


A Guide to Nothing

by AeantizLKamenwati



Series: Banal'han [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Codex Entries (Dragon Age), Dragon Age Lore, I Don't Even Know, Nothing Guide, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2021-04-17
Packaged: 2021-04-25 13:08:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22305697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeantizLKamenwati/pseuds/AeantizLKamenwati
Summary: Your one stop shop for things related to my story Nothing that you may like to know but don't need to know. Many of which are written like Codex Entries.Obviously, read Nothing, the notes will tell you when there are spoilers.The first few chapters are the main guides like character lists and timelines. After that are fun little codex entries on concepts and whatnot.Suggested by Atmahatia because it never occurred to me to do this.
Series: Banal'han [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/237975
Comments: 17
Kudos: 7





	1. Character List

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a suggestion on what to put in here, feel free to suggest. I only know people wanted the Character Lists and the Timeline but the latter is going to take awhile to get into a comprehensive state....right now it is just bullet points...

Contains names (or any title I use to denote them at this moment), age (or at least their age before sleeping for a few millennia), basic appearance, and a few random bits. Obviously will not include Banal. Subject to change.

Vhena (Da’vhenan, Princess): 823, reference post here, she’s oddly bubbly for a necromancer and has no qualms about dead things. They are dead. They don’t feel. Also loves to butt into her father’s love life.

An’nas (Da’nas, Speckles, Hallalin, The Bard): 823, short white hair with black tips (think Alistair’s hair from DA: O), always has three braids in his hair (two chin length ones in front of his left ear and one shoulder length one behind it), purple and orange eyes, birthmark on his left cheek, burn mark on his chest, hates violence or killing people himself, chooses to be a healer/bard to bring a little happiness

Prince Sarel Tahon Surana (Da’fen, Fenlin, The Duelist, Rebel): 900, chestnut colored hair usually pulled back into ponytail with bangs on the right side, gold eyes, scars primarily on his torso, deceptively fun loving but can have the razorsharp focus of a warrior, Solas’s adopted son.

Samahlnan (Sama, Da’ras, Lily, The Blood Mage/Assassin): 1,050, reference pic here, talks like she’s reciting ballads, deadly elegant, backstory found here

Nehnlin Fen(N’lin, Da’len, Griffon): 1,086, reference pic here and here, slightly germaphobic, voice is quiet but he likes to yell, doesn’t give a griffon’s ass feather about society’s norm, Blood Nephew of Rithara

Sulahn’mi (Sula, Da’mi, Sparrow, The Champion): 1,043, reference pic here and here, quiet as a Chantry mouse, gets very anxious in large groups, is a perfectionist, backstory found here

The Lotusmaker (Lotus, The Healer): 1,324, curly blonde hair, black eyes, burn over the bridge of his nose, lotus tattoo on his side, always wears black gloves and a long black coat, has some post traumatic stress, copes with bad jokes, prior drug addiction

Soralan the Liar (The Liar): 2,762, white hair braided into tiny little braids and put into a ponytail, purple eyes, chipped teeth and one scar that runs from under his right eyebrow, across his bridge and ends on his chin, a morose and quite person who actually doesn’t lie until he introduces himself

Arvaan Ishtirel (Vaan, Iovru (bear cub)): 1,099, light blonde hair that usually falls around his eyes, doe brown eyes, always wears a bear necklace, he’s one of those guys that will stick by you until the end but will be there to smack sense into you too, some backstory found here, brother-in-law to Sulahn’mi

Zeyras (Zey, Da’halla): 872, pale blonde hair, short in the back with bangs brushing his forehead, pale skin, pure white eyes with flecks of gold but uses illusion to change them to a cognac color, silver Mythal vallaslin over his body, lashmarks on his back and legs, extremely submissive from his days as a slave, has a case of Stockholm Syndrome with Saviik and Samyra.

Nenara “Twice Dead” Fen (Nenar, Bandana): 1,439, red dreadlocks, hazel brown eyes, dark skin, wears a bandanna around her neck, talks with a thick accent, wife of Rithara, once a soldier in the First Calvary or Battle Healer, then a pirate. Highly protective, loves jokes (especially really bad ones)

Rithara Fen (Rith, Crystals): 1,547, honey blonde hair in intricate braids with tiny jewels, wears a beautiful blue with gold fabric over her eyes (Fade green), blind, was raised by dwarves after her Clan was killed, Blood Aunt to Nehnlin, calm and always grounded, great Stone-sense for an elf


	2. Character List (Evanuris Edition)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contains MASSIVE spoilers for Nothing. Repeat SPOILERS up until chapter 28. Read at your own risk?
> 
> Edit: ages have been fixed. May change further once timeline is complete

Adding in Enuvaris and other characters that exist in the flash backs below this cut. Some of the characters are either a) extremely minor or b) extremely new (see I have been doing something) so I don’t have a lot of information at present. Subject to Change.

Elgar’nan (Nan): 6,719 (a year older than Banal), about 6′9″/6′10″ tall (which is giant even back then), dark golden colored skin with a great collection of scars, sort of a medium blond hair usually kept in a ponytail with some sort of ornate hair pin, turquoise and purple eyes, is charismatic, personable and very lighthearted. Often told he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he has more emotion than thoughts. He has a way of getting under people’s skins (literally and figuratively). Last Sun King of the Elvhenan and descendant of the First Sun King. Banal’s nas’falon and bondmate, Mythal’s husband. 500% pure homosexual though. Blood Warrior. Current whereabouts: Fade

Mythal: 6,693, kinda looks like Elven Flemeth? I guess? Has garnet colored eyes and extremely dark brown hair (almost black). Last Moon Queen (because I suck at naming things) of the Elvhenan. Very calm, wise, calculating. Where Elgar’nan feels, Mythal thinks. Was killed by Andruil for reason yet unknown. Arcane Warrior. Current whereabouts: kicking it as Flemeth

Sylaise (Syla): 5,824, dark brown skin, “crystal clear water” blue eyes like blue flames, and reddish brown hair usually kept braided. Wears a headdress that looks like rays of light. Battle armor has the motif of flames. Talks to plants, likes plants way more than people. Has the bedside manner of porcupine badger. As Banal stated, she is a “ batty, like crazy, reclusive, swamp witch batty. She was also a bit of a…pompous misanthrope who would much rather be surrounded by plants.” Likes to experiment on battlefields (one blinded Ghil). Twin of June and Shield/Sworn Sister of Andruil. Battle Healer. Current whereabouts: unknown

June: 5,824, looks pretty much the same as Sylaise just uses masculine pronouns and wears more blacksmith stuff. Famed smith of his time, crafted complex spells woven into crystal armors and weapons that were almost unbreakable (Banal’s armor is one of his creations). He is a bit of a wallflower, not liking to be seen, offering half-fake smiles to small talk and generally more at home with his anvil. Made himself Tranquil during a century long pilgrimage to learn how to be able to enchant. Twin of Sylaise. Arcanist (basically a Dagna). Current whereabouts: unknown

Andruil (Andi): 6,708, short blonde hair with darker streaks, dark golden skin with a few dark freckles, same eyes as Elgar’nan. Wears leathers and furs with her armor and also an ornate headdress that mimics wings and ram horns. Brash, abrasive, and rather egotistical. Hates that Elgar’nan got the throne. Tenacious and sometimes cruel, she is often called Goddess of Sacrifice as she loves holding power over other people and the thrill of the hunt (mostly the end of the hunt). She leads the First Calvary. Arcane Hunter. Current whereabouts: unknown

Dirthamen (Dira): 5,683, only child of Mythal and Elgar’nan conceived with Banal’s weird magic help, you could consider Dirthamen to be Banal’s first child actually, looks like Elgar’nan with a slightly lighter skin color and inverse eyes (so purple outside, turquoise inside). A rather strange and mysterious fellow, raised to think he was a God and so a God he became one that manipulated people’s hearts and minds to tell him their secrets and sorta brainwashed them to believe their secrets were “cleansed” only by confession. It was a small form of Void Magic that slowly corrupted them to be able to hear the Void’s whisperings. His followers fell into madness when he disappeared due to having these “secrets” return. Kinda has an ego. Current whereabouts: unknown

Falon’Din (Falo or Din): 5,688, can find full description in chapter ¾ of Nothing but basics are russet brown hair, garnet colored eyes, and golden skin with silver tattoos all over. Loves lavish things. Orphan that watched his whole family die of starvation or cold as a child, was shunned and whatnot by his village to the point where his “home” was an old crypt. His friends were the spirits of the long dead and two ravens that often followed him around and brought shiny things. Dirthamen’s nas’falon, which made him sort of a herald of the Prince (knight maybe?) when he found at 8 years old. Eventually becomes Banal’s lover late in life and started a war due to Banal’s manipulations, would’ve been killed by Mythal if not for Banal stepping in front of the blade. Current whereabouts: unknown

Ghilan’nain (Ghil): 6,555, dark skin, pale blonde hair, large fire scar over her eyes (once where golden brown). Wears a headdress with Halla horns and lots of lace and beads. Wife of Dirthamen. She is very outspoken often not dancing around words or subjects and just cutting to the heart of the matter. She cares quite a bit about her friends and offers very wise council. She likes to experiment with the concept of life and create new things with June’s help. Could also talk to animals. One of Banal’s very few friends. Current whereabouts: unknown

Halevune: ?????, Elgar’nan’s mother, one green eye, one brown eye. Extremely calm and collected to the point that it’s rather frightening. Current whereabouts: dead

Ishalentarasylnin Tyrlanelden (Isen):8,874, short (about 5′9″), with apricot colored hair that he keeps shoulder length and rose colored eyes. Banal’s adoptive father, husband of his birth mother Adahla. Isen hails from the plains, THE noble family more skilled in mercantile than warfare, which is how his marriage to the Assassin Queen came about. While he has no real ties to Banal, and in fact Banal is more of an obvious slight to him, Isen treated Banal as his own son, shielding him from his mother’s wrath and teaching the boy compassion rather than fear or hatred. A gentle soul who wished to see the world change to where there were no more barriers for people. His bond-mate is Felivetanin. Battle Healer. Current whereabouts: dead probably.

Felivetanin Tyrlanelden: 8,652, 5′10″, transgender woman, dark bronze skin, peachy hair (kinda strawberry blonde I guess) often curly/kinky, opal colored eyes. Wears some form of guard uniform. Called Lady General of House Tyrlanelden, she is the guard captain and commander of Isen’s House’s army (which is mostly guards for the town). She is strong, steadfast, and quite gentle. Many of her younger recruits see her more as a mother figure. Banal, even considers her to be more his mother than his birth mother. Arcane Warrior. Current whereabouts: dead probably.

Adahla Lavellan: ??????, short (5′2″), white hair, dawn colored eyes, Queen of Assassins and Ruler of the Banal’rasan/Banal’han prior to Banal. Mother of Banal and Alhadhru. Ruthless, cunning, and deceptive. Slept with Sulendys to conceive Banal for the promise of power/a perfect weapon to overtake the Empire. Killed by Alha. 

Atisumi (Mien): 6,727, ebony skin, black hair, and piercing blue eyes, looks like he was carved out of stone. Had many admirers. Elgar’nan’s Guardian (think Abelas’s position to Mythal basically…or like a knight that follows him around and takes orders???), won the honor when he was fifteen years old in a tournament, got his family out of poverty too. With a name that means “peaceful blade” and his penchant for hitting first and asking questions later, most people just call him “Mien” or blade. Stubborn, loyal, and not afraid to hit his liege for being dumb, Elgar’nan and Banal both fell head over heels for the pretty boy and even discussed bonding with him prior to the War. Current whereabouts: unknown.

Alhadhru Lavellan (Alha): ??????, lithe, long white hair, pale skin, dawn colored eyes. Scion of the Lavellans, though he is the second son and thus not obligated to carry on the family name. Meek, and rather sweet for an assassin. Little brother of Banal who adored his big brother even after the Shadow came. Current whereabouts: unknown.

Sulendys (Sulen): ??????, short black hair, green and red colored eyes (full description in chapter 25). Sadistic and mad with Void power, Sulendys is a direct descendant of the Scourge and has fallen to the same madness as his forefathers. Birth Father of Banal. Abusive and destructive despite having a relatively nice childhood unlike the others of his line. Current whereabouts: Fade

Nolahra: ?????????(really freaking old), old lady with grey streaked black hair and blue eyes. Banal’s Grandmother, Sulendys’s mother. “Swamp witch” to many who heard of her living out in the swamp by herself, but she was quite skilled at medicines and Void magic though she could never use that sort of magic herself. She helped to teach Banal how to control his powers when he was younger. Later she became one of his “followers” to keep an eye on her grandson. She was a tough old mentor with a heart of gold that just wanted her son to be happy. Current whereabouts: dead.


	3. The Line of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally! A comprehensive timeline with all the things on it rather than a dinky picture. Contains a lot of spoilers obviously, but nothing passed Chapter 34 is spoiled.
> 
> Author Note 04/08/20: Chapter 34 is not currently finished, so read at your own risk until further notice.
> 
> Author Note 04/19/20: Chapter 34 now live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you looked at the really old timeline I did, you'll notice a lot of things changed and that's because I have a tendency to add details as I'm writing and forget I had that thing. Plus I made that thing way before I expanded the world building, so it is no longer valid. I hope you enjoy the fruits of my mathematically induced headache :D
> 
> The first three entries don't have dates because most references to them were erased, and therefore they can't pinpoint a date.
> 
> Also you'll notice it does not fit the canonical timeline as established by the Dragon Age series save for at the very end (those canonical dates are obviously property of BioWare). My excuse is that I highly doubt the early human tribes kept really good records and had a calendar system that matched well with the Elvhen's. Also translation errors as well as the age old classic of 'history is written by the victors'. Basically the humans were struggling on Par Vollen and failed to notice the Elvhenan imploding. So yeah, forget what you think you know.
> 
> Subject to change as I go along.

  * **First War (over ten thousand years ago)**: This is the collective term for the time before the Elvhenan aka the Empire. There is not a lot of physical evidence or documentation of this time period beyond memories in the Fade. Most that could be found is nothing but battles and scrimmages. Story goes that the Elvhen were divided into Clans or Houses that all warred for territory, people, and just for the helluva it. The time period ends when one man named Ajue’tishn was possessed by a Spirit of Balance, rose up an army and brought all the Houses under his banner. In some scholarly circles, this story is merely a legend with no merit, just a fantastical retelling of events distorted by the Fade. Some call it the Unification War.
  * **The Sleeping Sun Era (Era’vun’mana or period of the sleeping sun)**: Ajue’tishn was named Emperor over the Elvhenan and ruled for some time. He brought peace (some think his name is merely a title rather than his name given this fact), established hierarchy that the Elvhen continued to use even if it was reminiscent of their more tribal roots, and built the city that would be renamed as Anbanal in the Banal’rasan region. It served as his capital for many centuries. Slowly, his mind started to meld with the Spirit, who could not maintain balance within his soul, as politics began to surface once more. It is said he began to get increasingly paranoid over the years, slowly enforcing stricter and stricter laws and restraints…
  * **Scourge War**: The War between the Shadow King (Ajue’tishn’s title) and the Sun King (a High King of Arlathan). The Sun King grew tired of watching the Empire bear the weight of the Shadow’s corruption. He grew his strength in secret for many decades before he declared war. By the time the Shadow’s forces were decimated, most of the Houses of the Elvhenan had sworn fealty to the Sun. There was a great debate over this war. Some say it didn’t happen at all as there is no record of it beyond a few snippets. All references to Ajue’tishn were struck from history save the Great Library, under heavy enchantments to keep people out. 
    * All references were changed to The Scourge, a title given to the Shadow King by the rebel forces for sacrificing whole cities for power or advantage. Also a reference to his madness from spirit possession.
    * The Sun King allowed The Scourge’s wife and son to live, leading to the continuation of the bloodline.
    * The Capital was moved to Arlathan, Anbanal was given to the Lavellan House for their part in bringing down their former masters
    * Much reform was done through the Sun King’s reign, though his descendants would become more and more progressive as time went on. The Era of the Sun lasted for some time with only “minor” wars happening.
  * **7933 Ancient**: Ishalentarasylnin Tyrlanelden Born
  * **7711 Ancient**: Felivetanin Tyrlanelden Born
  * **7600 approx. Ancient**: Chantry histories claim Arlathan was founded…in truth it was the establishment of the Council of Kings as well as a reform to the religion and laws including the nas’falon laws. This is called Tuathal, the unifying, which is where the Chantry’s error stems from: mistranslation.
  * **7332 Ancient**: Sulendys Born to Nolahra
  * **5786 Ancient:** Atisumi Born
  * **5778 Ancient**: Elgar’nan Born
  * **5777 Ancient**: Sulendys is caught in the Banal’rasan, taken to Suledin’s Tower of Bone for experiments into his nature as all records of his bloodline have been destroyed or censored
  * **5777 Ancient**: Mahviiral Born
  * **5773 Ancient**: Mahviiral meets Elgar’nan inside a dream
  * **5772 Ancient**: Alhadhru Born
  * **5770 Ancient: **Atisumi wins the Arena to become Elgar’nan’s Guardian
  * **5767 Ancient**: Andruil Born
  * **5763 Ancient**: Mahviiral’s Shadow manifests, hair turns black, gets the Void Mark
  * **5762 Ancient**: Elgar’nan and Mahviiral meet in person
  * **5761 Ancient**: Mahviiral is no longer a virgin 😉
  * **5756 Ancient**: Mahviiral imprisoned in Tower of Bone, freed and charges brought against the Sun King and Adahla for crimes regarding nas’falon
  * **5752 Ancient**: Mythal & Solas Born
  * **5652 Ancient**: Mahviiral and Elgar’nan are engaged to be bonded, the Courts block it with protocols, they use the “nas’falon clause” to fight it, has to be ratified by priest
  * **5652 Ancient**: Dwarf War (Stone War, Titan War, etc): the Sun King declared war on the Dwarves/Titans. Officially, the Dwarves caused this by encroaching on and pillaging Elvhen towns as well as kidnapping the Prince and ransoming him for “outrageous” tax negotiations. Unofficially, the Sun King wanted their land/lyrium/allegiance and they obviously didn’t want to give it to him; he staged Elgar’nan’s kidnapping. Turned into a stalemate for some time until the introduction of dragon riders and shifters. The Evanuris (Mythal, Solas, Elgar’nan, Mahviiral, and Andruil) as the people called them began to get a frightful reputation in the early part of the war.
  * **5650 Ancient**: Mahviiral and Elgar’nan are bonded
  * **5614 Ancient**: Ghilan’nain Born
  * **5457 Ancient**: The Titans are forced underground, sealed with crazy amounts of magic and spells.
  * **5394 Ancient**: Ena’vun’mien’harel (Sun Rise Rebellion), Elgar’nan kills his father for the throne, seeks to end the Dwarf War, does and is crowned Sun King
  * **5041 Ancient**: Soralan Born
  * **4883 Ancient**: Sylaise and June Born
  * **4802 Ancient**: Ghilan’nain blinded in a small skirmish outside Arlathan
  * **4800 Ancient**: Spirit War, not really a war, but enough of a fight broke out between the Evanuris and the Forbidden Ones that history decided to name the three year period in which the Evanuris targeted, fought, and eventually bound the Forbidden Ones, erasing all mention from history
  * **4747 Ancient**: Falon’Din Born
  * **4742 Ancient**: Dirthamen Born
  * **4740 Ancient**: Supposed attempted coup by the Lavellans thwarted, ringmaster executed, Mahviiral leaves Suledin/Elgar’nan
  * **4739 Ancient**: Dark War (The Rebellion/Era’vun’linast’vir), a force of ‘gods’ rose up to face the Evanuris. Lead by the mysterious Elder One, historians have debated whether Mahviiral or Sulendys was the leader of this three decade long war. Perhaps the shortest war in the history of the Elvhenan, but also the bloodiest with whole areas wiped out from the fighting. Ended when Solas poisoned the Forgotten Ones, Elgar’nan killed his nas’falon and turned the Banal’rasan into the Banal’han.
  * **3826 Ancient**: Rithara Fen Born
  * **3718 Ancient**: Nenara Born
  * **3603 Ancient**: The Lotusmaker Born
  * **3365 Ancient**: Nehnlin Born
  * **3329 Ancient**: Samahlnan Born
  * **3322 Ancient**: Sulahn’mi Born
  * **3189 Ancient**: Banal awakes from Uthenera #1
  * **3179 Ancient**: Sarel Tahon Surana born and adopted by Solas
  * **3151 Ancient**: Zeyras Born
  * **3102 Ancient**: Vhena and An’nas Born
  * **3100 approx. Ancient**: Humans first sighted to the north
  * **3087 Ancient**: Banal enters the service of Falon’Din
  * **2576 Ancient**: Grave War or Death War, Falon’Din’s war to garner followers (thanks to Banal’s schemes)
  * **2280 Ancient**: An'nas and Tahon bonded, Vhena poisoned
  * **2279 Ancient**: Banal ‘killed’ via Mythal’s sword
  * **2278 Ancient**: End of the Grave War when Elgar’nan’s Champion (Atisumi) defeated Falon’Din’s in single combat. Falon’Din imprisoned, but not before he sends all of Banal’s followers into temporary Uthenera
  * **2277 Ancient**: Dirthamen breaks Falon’Din out of prison
  * **2276 Ancient**: the new year is welcomed in by Mythal’s death during a confrontation/meeting of the Evanuris
  * **2275 Ancient**: Dread War (Solas’s War), technically this ‘war’ can be traced back to the late 3200s, the Dread Wolf freeing slaves, building up an army, etc. However, the first battle or declaration of war did not occur until one year after Mythal’s death
  * **1729 Ancient**: The Veil is created, Arlathan is destroyed. Evanuris are locked behind the Veil.
  * **981 Ancient**: fighting between Elvhen and Humans comes to a head and the Siege of Arlathan begins
  * **975 Ancient**: Humans conquer ‘Arlathan’ namely just what was left of it and sink it into the ground
  * **395 Ancient**: First Blight
  * **203 Ancient**: Dumat is killed ending the First Blight
  * **181 Ancient**: Corypheus sealed and hidden
  * **170 Ancient**: Andraste burned at the stake
  * **130 Ancient**: Chant of Light is created
  * **100 Ancient**: Original Inquisition is founded
  * **3 Ancient**: Kordillus Drakon crowned emperor of Orlais and the Chantry is established as an official religion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any suggestions on things you would like to see on the timeline or in this guide in general, please place a comment here not on Nothing. If we've chatted on Nothing and you notice a discrepancy, please please please PLEASE point it out to me so that I can review it and see if it was something I abandoned, or if I just forgot about it!
> 
> I'm thinking the various culture things about the Elvhenan should be next? Their concept of aging, religion, and other things I've talked about in the comment sections of certain chapters. What do you think?


	4. Codex: Corruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Codex for the elusive Corruption spirits in the style of in game ones. Obviously if you don't know what Corruption spirits are, you should read Chapter 25 and come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular bit of lore was inspired by the theory that Darkspawn use Void magic, and from there I crafted it. So my lore? I guess?

_There is little evidence to suggest these “Corruption Spirits” even exist. Just a few vague stories and half-delirious accounts passed down through the ages. Hardly what I’d call proof. Yet these spirits persist, their tales dying one age, only to be rediscovered the next, sparking yet another series of debates that descends into pure madness and conjecture._

_It’s like something draws us to them, these beings of legend. At the same time, something causes us to forget them. Like the puzzle that we just couldn’t solve as a child, so we lost it only to find it again as we get older. Usually the puzzle becomes simpler and we wonder what fascinated us so. But in this case we are perpetually a child losing their puzzle, it never getting any easier._

_And perhaps that is it. It must be. For beings who seek to know everything, are drawn to things they do not._

_But to answer your question, lethallin, yes I have heard of these spirits. I will tell you all that I know, which is all that my guides have shown me, of these legends._

_Below are a series of letters found in the Fade, dated during the time of Arlathan from a scholar and his wife_

Dearest, I do wish you would cease this folly. It is sheer madness, chasing after these “Keepers” as you call them. Like chasing down ghosts!

Corruption Spirits are merely old wives tales to keep young children in line. My own mother used to threaten me and my brother that if we didn’t behave a Corruption Spirit would come and drag us into the Void.

Mother is starting to think you’ve gone crazy, chasing after these rumors. She already didn’t like you, “head too stuffed with dusty old tomes” as she liked to say. Now she’s trying to pawn me off on some farmer.

Do come home soon, dearest.

——

Beloved, your mother, spirits bless her cantankerous soul, could go roll with her beloved pigs for all I care for her approval. Unless she sees it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t believe the sky was blue. And even then, she only believes her eyes because the priests tell her so.

But these rumors…they are so much more than that. Did you know that there are references to these Keepers as far back as the beginning of the Elvhenan? I’d wager there’s not a civilization that does not have a story about them.

I just need a few more weeks. I’ve managed to talk to a few of the scholars here. Most of them think I’m crazy too, but one of the older priests…I don’t know, he gets real fidgety when he hears me talking. Like he’s hiding something.

I’m going to find out what.

P.S. Please tell me she’s not trying to get you to bond with Viiren again? He and his husband are quite happy together despite what your mother thinks.

——

A few more weeks. No more. I’m not sure Viiren and I can stand much more of my mother. At this point, I’ve had to bake three cakes, craft five blankets and help them plant this year’s crops as apologies for her. The shop owner thinks I’m opening a bakery with the amount of flour I’ve had to purchase.

I do hope this old priest gives you the answers you are looking for. Just as I hope it will sate your curiosity enough for you to come back. I feel uneasy when you talk so fondly of these things. You know what they say about inviting bad things in, don’t you?

I wish you luck, dearest. Spirits guide you.

There is no record if the scholar ever found what he was looking for.

_The following is another series of notes between two students dated around -4923 Ancient_

Enough of this inane prattle. There are no such things as Corruption Spirits. I tire of this subject and your theories. If such beings did exist, someone must have seen one before. Yet there are no reports of such encounters by anyone, mortal or spirit. Because they do not exist.

—-

There are no records of them because they change form. They assume the façades of pride demons, desire demons, wisdom spirits, valor spirits, and so on. It’s what allows them to get close, to test you. That’s their task: to test, to weed the strong from the weak.

Have you never wondered why there are demons in the Fade? What turns innocent spirits of wisdom into pride demons? Compassion into despair?

—-

I’m sighing loudly at you right now, you know. And smacking my forehead.

There are demons because spirits watch us. Some of them just can’t resist the urge to go against their nature. The priests say so.

—-

Again with the priests say so! Would you think for yourself for once? Don’t you find it a bit strange that spirits like wisdom, who show little interest in the physical world, would just suddenly become Pride? For what a whim? Nonsense. Spirits don’t have whims. They embody a particular aspect, one they do not stray from.

Unless a Corruption Spirit comes along. They have to keep the balance between spirits and demons. To keep everything else in balance.

—-

Are you even reading yourself? What kind of explanation is “to keep everything else in balance”? How is creating demons keeping balance? Shouldn’t there be no demons for there to be balance?

Besides a spirit of corruption? Corruption isn’t a spirit. It’s a demon if it exists. Probably one that’s blessed your damn head with madness.

Now stop bugging me, Master Caerien is starting to get that look in his eye.

_Through, shall we say unconventional methods I obtained access to the Tevinters’ Archives. In which I managed to copy down these letters between two scholars from some time in the Blessed Age._

Magister Aelinus makes a rather good point, of course. There is no way to prove these beings exist, but just because we don’t see them is that proof enough that they don’t? We have not seen the Maker and yet He exists. The air we breathe is invisible most days, and yet it is a fact.

Every age past there have been studies done on these creatures. There is evidence to suggest that even the Elves studied them! Elves! The Dreamers of Old have texts dedicated to them. If this many people spanning the ages have theorized about these spirits, then there must be something there. Even if it is just morbid curiosity, the implications of such a spirit …are astounding to say the least.

—-

Agreed, my friend. It would be a rather odd coincidence that people who had no contact with each other all held the same idea. Especially considering that so many of the theories overlap each other, growing as new knowledge is surfaced. To write Corruption Spirits off as fiction merely because one has never seen it, would be a great injustice.

Perhaps you would like to come with me to the Archives? I have managed to secure access to many of the tomes you had mentioned. With luck we might be able to unravel this mystery.

A few letters have been damaged by time. They seem to be back and forth conversations about the tomes.

I believe that particular theory, friend, means to say that Corruption is born of the Void, which is a plane of existence other than the Fade but exists simultaneously alongside the Fade. The Elves called it the Beyond.

I have read other theories that believe the Void to be a sub-plane of the Fade, or perhaps only accessible from the Fade. Which would make sense given that souls of the departed must pass through the Fade to get to the beyond.

But then that implies that the Void is where the Maker would reside wouldn’t it? The Black City? How could that even be possible? The Maker allowing things called Corruption Spirits to live in his abode?

—-

Most of those theories predate the Blight, so it is possible they speak of the Old Gods’ place of power.

That said, upon reviewing some other texts, it seems that the sole purpose of these spirits is to keep balance. They “corrupt” the dark just as much as the light. They turn spirits into demons and kill demons who have gotten too powerful. They watch. They wait. They test. If what I’m reading is to be believed.

Perhaps that is why the Maker created them? To test his other creations?

—-

But if they were created from the Void, wouldn’t that mean the Maker was in or of the Void as well?

If the spirit’s purpose was to keep balance, why call it Corruption? Why not Balance? Or Tester? Beyond that, it would make sense for them to test us. Many texts reference them changing forms to best suit their task. If they were to challenge someone prone to pride, it would do no good to look like a desire demon.

Which purposes a curious idea. If they change shape, it would explain why none have seen their true form. But if they are testers, weeding the strong from the weak, are they the spirits the Harrowing summons?

—-

I shudder to think that I have met Corruption before. I doubt they take much interest in mortals. They seem to keep busy managing the Fade what with all the demons vying for power. They seem to be like the city guards for the Fade…or Fade Guards?

They probably called them Corruption spirits because they have to embody some strong abstract idea like Wisdom or Love or Pride. And as they can change their form to whatever spirit or demon they wish, Corruption seems a fitting title. After all, Wisdom can corrupt just as much as Rage and Desire.

I found a rather interesting entry the other day. I’ll have to show it to you next time you are there.

—-

So what he is saying is that these spirits, being born of the Void and not the Fade, use a special kind of magic? Void magic? I suppose if the Void is its own plane of existence, it could have its own magic source. But wouldn’t that imply that mortals could tap into that power like we do the Fade?

I mean if the Void exists simultaneously with our world and the Fade, couldn’t we also draw on it? Or find it? Or is it closed off to only the dead and the Corruption Spirits?

—-

After about three hours of searching and yelling at the slaves, I found the rest of that journal. And…to say it disturbs me would be an understatement.

The author describes that the Void is like a song, it sings to these spirits, growing louder when they near something wrong (that is literally the only way he describes it). Like other spirits they have the compulsion to fix the wrong. And when they cast magic…they are manipulating the song into being or pushing it through them or something.

What gets me is the spirits hear a song. That sounds eerily like the Blight and darkspawn to me.

—-

Wait a moment, friend. If the Void is a song that drives the spirits to a compulsion…Maker’s breath, could that be the place of the Blight? What if the ancient magisters hadn’t breached the Fade at all? But cracked the Void? Or what if the Void is the Black City? Or something like that? Perhaps Corruption was what cast them back down as darkspawn? Is the Taint really just the Void?

—-

Or these spirits took the guise of the Old Gods and lured the magisters there. You did say they took many forms to test us. Perhaps one posed as Dumat and the magisters fell for their trap. But if they had entered the Void rather than the Fade…I do not wish to know what the true form of the Corruption Spirits is and I pray I never go there.

_The last thing I have to share with you, is perhaps the most detailed of accounts I have found. It took a great bit of searching to find it. The memory of it gives only the name Diarth as the author. Who or what Diarth was, I cannot say, but these seem to be his notes. As best I can tell, they are to be dated between -5000 and -4800 Ancient._

Fascinating. That is the only word I have to describe it. It was finally caught. In Banal’rasan of all places! Apparently it had taken a fancy to a young Lavellan there. Or so the guards told me when they brought me down to see it.

The Sun King has given me permission to test as I see fit. So long as I do not let it get loose. As though I’d want that! So many questions with no answers for so many centuries and now here before me in some dank dungeon lies the key!

Does its heart still beat? Does it have blood in its veins? What has changed? What is different? How many chambers does its heart have? Does it need air? Food? Water? Does it sleep? Feel pain? How much? All of these I wonder now.

I must remember to pace myself, lest I ruin it. I begin tomorrow at dawn.

—–

The subject appears to be normal in all outwardly aspects. Yet it is different. It is Elvhen in shape, pale skin, black hair, green eyes.

But its skin is perhaps too pale, an almost ethereal quality to it. Strange markings decorate its flesh unlike anything I’ve ever seen. They…hum…like they are pure magic. They shimmer, shine, flash different colors depending on the subject’s mood. Otherwise they are near invisible. What are they? There is no evidence in its skin to show they were put there by another mortal. So how did they form? What are their meaning?

Its hair is too black. Blacker than the shadows here in its cell anyway. And its eyes are…unnerving. The brightest green collides with the brightest red around the pupil. My apprentices shiver whenever they feel its gaze on them. And feel it you do. If looks could kill does not do this one’s justice. Its gaze is far more…sinister…base perhaps. As though it’d love to just rip us all apart bit by tiny bit and feast on us.

So far it has not responded to any of my questions. It does not respond to anything it seems, not even the whip. It held consciousness far longer than an ordinary man. The torturer tired before it did.

Tomorrow I shall see what those markings are.

——

Months and still nothing. The beast seems to find this all entertaining. It smiles and laughs at our confusion, our anger now.

Still, whether it realizes it or not, it has given me some useful data. Upon its left hand is a black mark of similar design to those translucent ones. It will flash and pulse if the subject gets too agitated. Like it’s trying to pull something or perhaps create something. Like its trying to protect its bearer.

The collar around the subject’s neck binds all magic, so we haven’t had much trouble with it. I’m beginning to think it’s also restricting that mark. And that mark is tied to the subject’s blood.

—-

The subject seemed to be in a joyous mood today. He was laughing as we came down. It was a beautiful sound, just as it was chilling. He said something about it beginning again. I’m not sure what he it meant by that.

It was also surprisingly chatty. He It and I spoke at length about various things. Still no answers really. But some of the things it spoke of, it makes me wonder. What if there are more people like him? Were there ones before?

I must make haste to the library. There must be something there that can aid me.

—–

Four. There were four others. Keyword being were in that sentence.

Perhaps I should start at the beginning before my excitement gets the better of me.

The subject had hinted to me that he was not the first, only the latest. He denied the term demon and even the term spirit. But he seemed fond of calling himself demon-blooded. What is the difference? I asked him.

What do you know about spirit possession? He asked back. While I’ve studied such things at length before, I’ve found no evidence of a spirit inhabiting his body. He merely laughed. I’m not possessed, he said, my twice great-grandfather was.

How did that pertain to him? I wondered. He would not answer, of course. He seemed fond of these little games.

It took a few weeks but I’ve managed to track down the subject’s lineage. Perhaps I shouldn’t say track down. I pieced together his lineage. Not a very long lineage to be sure, but one that…would make for interesting reunions.

I believe the subject to be a descendant of The Scourge. Normally I would not suggest the legend be true, but there are far too many coincidences between the tale and my subject. Evidence suggests I am correct. Once every few centuries, there would be similar incidents of rape, torture, and murder. The suspects when apprehended all had pale skin, black hair, green eyes, and a black mark upon their left hand.

Sadly, the suspects, much like the Scourge, were killed in their capture so there wasn’t much study done on them.

But I have a live one. If what the prisoner and the legend say are true, there might be more to possessions than was originally thought.

—-

I have already begun writing my thesis. My colleagues think me mad, but they have not seen what I have. They do not know what I do.

Months of research, years of experiments have all finally come to fruition. The old wondertales of Corruption Spirts, the so called Keepers, are far from myth. They are in fact truth. I know it. The subject knows it for he is part one. How I do not know, yet. But he is part one.

Most spirits have no interest in the physical world, it too steady for them. They prefer the abstract, the thoughts and emotions that color our world. Yet the priests all tell us, we are to blame for the spirits’ corruptions, for the demons.

But how is that possible when there are entire areas of the Fade that we have no access to because they are ruled by demons? How is it possible that little wisps, playful and curious, can be corrupted by merely meeting a mortal? How can beings who merely observe, patiently recording every detail of emotion, be turned into a demon for doing its task?

There has to be something, someone doing the corrupting. Forcing wisdom to become pride. Love to become despair. Beings not of the Fade, but of the Void itself. For what else could hold such sway over the Fade, the ability to create and destroy? Beings who shift their forms to match their task: to test, to balance.

Everything needs balance. Light and Dark. Spirits and Demons. They all have to exist together. Like a garden. Corruption Spirits are merely the gardener, plucking weeds, trimming trees, watering the flowers. All to keep this world in balance.

_The rest of the notes are rambling theories pertaining to the Corruption Spirits. There are a few notes detailing how spirit possession works and how it changes the body, but most are incomprehensible and utter nonsense._

—Stories told in a series of letters by Keeper Aeantiz


	5. Codex: Elvhen Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A codex entry dedicated to the concept of bonds in the Elvhen culture.
> 
> Contains minor spoilers for Chapter 25/26 and future Chapters (will update with the number once we reach it). Keyword being minor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to go ahead and do this particular chapter up because quite a few people have asked and/or are confused by all the types of bonds. This includes nas'falon bonds and marriages. Hopefully it will clear up any confusion you may have.
> 
> I made sure to avoid massive spoilers like dropping names or using actual examples, so even if you aren't current with the story, you should be fine. The spoiler warning is mostly for people who don't want to know about the bonds until Dorian and Banal talk about it.
> 
> Pretty much all of this is my personal headcanon from the one codex entry in the Temple of Mythal about Dirthamen (Twins in Shadow) that mentions 'soul twins'. The term _nas'falon_ comes from Project Elvhen. But all the lore/world building is mine ;) because I love me a good soul mate AU that makes sense.

"You ask about my ancestors and marriage. It is true much has been lost since our days in Arlathan, but my guides have shown me much on the subject. Sit and I will explain it as best I can, my friend.

Marriage to the ancient Elvhen was surprisingly similar to the Orlesians: for most common folk it was for love, but for nobles or those of higher status (generals, war heroes, people of notable deeds) it was for politics. It was a simple contract between two families, with terms and agreements that varied depending on what each wanted out of the arrangement. Often, it stipulated heirs—for one or both families depending—as well as the mutually beneficial arrangement that would occur during the length of the contract as well as once the contract was fulfilled.

Most nobles had many marriage contracts to pick from when they announced their eligibility (often with a ball, I’m told). The head of the family was in charge of vetting those proposals for the most promising. Some families had inborn abilities that had to be taken into account, others were more concerned with the current politics of the families. All gave their terms with their proposal, so many times it was merely a case of who was offering the best deal for little effort.

Once the head of the family chose which prospect, the families’ Archivists or Librarians began writing the contract. Much bartering and bickering would no doubt ensue as both families wanted the best possible outcome for their own family. Many contracts took a year or more to draw up, had hundreds of revisions and at least a dozen amendments.

The two leaders of the family would sign the contract once an agreement had been reached. Often times, the two bound by the contract had never even met prior to the signing.

I hear you say that such a thing would be terrible, to not have a single say in whom you are married to, but I would remind you that Elvhen marriages only lasted as long as the contract designated. There were stipulations within the legal document that would annul the entire thing should they be violated or not fulfilled within a certain timeframe. Indeed, many marriages lasted as long as a pregnancy or two. Some even had multiple marriages in their lifetimes.

So, if Elvhen marriages were a political matter, how did they express love? Affairs? Paramours? The answer is as simple as it is complex, my friend. You have heard Dalish calling their partners ‘bondmates’, perhaps? Or a Dalish call their marriage a bonding? It would seem not all knowledge was lost in our days as slaves. That we retained knowledge of our ancestors’ most sacred rite is a blessing.

But I’m afraid time has not been completely kind. Indeed, our version of bonding pales in comparison; it might as well be a pretend bonding between two children. We’ve lost much since the time of Arlathan and I am unsure if we could ever reclaim what a bond truly was to our ancestors: not a metaphorical bond as we know it, but a physical tie between two or more people’s souls.

To understand what a bonding—the ceremony that tied the souls together in a blood ritual—was, we first have to understand what it was mimicking. For there was one bond that was held in the highest regard; it was the most sacred of bonds, as well as the rarest. People who were born with a soul bond, or _nas’falon_ meaning ‘soul twin’.

These _nas’falon_ were thought to occur when the spirit that would form a newborn’s soul got caught in the Veil between our world and the Beyond. The spirit would struggle before tearing itself in two. One half would be pulled towards the original babe, letting it pass through the Veil. The other half, however, would often become stuck, too weak to pull through, unless the original had a twin. It was debated on why that would strengthen the spirit. Perhaps it was due to the proximity of its other half, or the spirit chose to split itself rather than got caught or perhaps it was merely fate.

Regardless, twins had a higher chance to be soul twins—and survive. What of non-related _nas’falon_, you ask. They were rare among soul twins (which were rare themselves), but when you live for thousands of years, even rarities become common.

Most often, parents of the first babe would know their child had a _nas’falon_. They wouldn’t cry, nor open their eyes. They would barely breathe and have a heartbeat. They would be empty, or perhaps closer to what we call Tranquil, for half of their soul was not in this world. They were disconnected, a husk as what little power they had would be spent on trying to pull their other half through to this side, to give it life.

How long it took for the other half to emerge varied on the strength of the spirit as well as if there was another babe in need of a soul. Some were only a few days, others were years. However, if the other half did not cross the Veil in time, it would wither away and the first born would die. A tragedy, of course, but it was thought to be a mercy of the spirits as if the one continued to live, it would be either: never truly alive or be too unstable to survive its first spell.

_Nas’falon_, you see, had a connection that went beyond anything we could even imagine. They shared a dream space that not even the spirits could touch, allowing them to connect from opposite ends of the Empire. They could sense each other’s emotions, pain, and in some rare cases even their thoughts. They were, to the Elvhen, one soul in two bodies.

They were so connected with each other that their very lives depended on the other. I’ve heard the phrase “to kill one is to kill both” in many of the memories I found. The law at the time even stated that if one soul twin was to be executed, the other must be as well. Why? Because it would be like asking someone to live with half a heart.

Many laws of the Elvhenan centered around _nas’falon_. Most protected them against discrimination. After all a prince could have a slave for a soul twin if the fates decided it and it wasn’t uncommon for the higher born family to deny or even actively seek to annul the bond in such cases. However, most saw such a bond as a gift, a blessing of fate and took such matters very seriously. Indeed it was sacrilege to even separate _nas’falon_ physically (my spirit guides tell me that imprisoning the unwanted twin was fairly common prior to the change in law and doctrine), not even kings had the power to deny the bond.

That said, a great many of _nas’falon_ had to be tested, especially where nobility was concerned. The lower born half would have to be given a place in the higher born's house, after all. This obviously made nobles wary of accepting just anyone as an heir’s soul twin. There were apparently several spells that could mimic such a bond on an unwilling person.

That is were the High Priests came in. While they had other duties, their primary function centered around bonds. They, with their spirit guides—often spirits of Love—, would test _nas’falon_ as well as perform the binding rituals.

These priests were trained in a school of magic I do not know a modern day equivalent for: animancy or the school of souls and/or life. The best I can figure, animancers were able to manipulate people’s souls, or, in the Elvhen’s case, their life magics. I wouldn’t call them blood mages as their spells work on more than just the mind and blood, but it is perhaps the closest we come to today.

They were the ones to devise a ritual that could take two non-_nas’falon_ and bind their souls together to mimic that bond. Blood bonding is what they called it, after the blood ritual needed for the binding. It was weaker than the soul bonding of _nas’falon_, yes, but it did, in fact, physically bind their souls together. Bondmates, they called them. Politically, bondmates were equal to an extent. Should a noble marry someone of lower birth, the mate would be elevated to the rank below theirs. So a Duke’s mate would be a Marquis (or the Elvhen equivalent), for example.

Unlike _nas’falon_ who would only ever have one soul twin, Elvhen could have several bondmates, so long as they passed the rigorous test the High Priests devised. It was to ensure a blood bond was not: forced on the unwilling, taken lightly, or done in the heat of passion. It was something done with only those you truly loved and wanted to bind your eternities together.

_Nas’falon_ could also blood bond. With different people, with the same people, or with each other, it depended on the pair; most bonded with other people. A few chose the same people and even fewer bonded with each other.

Those that bonded to each other enjoyed a rather unique and peculiar amendment of the law. Bonded _nas’falon_ were equal to each other. The one raised up to their mate’s title got ‘consort’ attached, just as an indicator that they were not born into the role; it did not usually mean they were lesser. But politically speaking, they could substitute for each other if one was not around. In fact, the guides tell me most often if they were separate, ‘consort’ would be dropped entirely. It was only in the presence of each other that it was necessary to make the distinction.

However, one should never confuse a _nas’falon_ bond with a blood bond; _nas’falon _did not automatically mean bondmate, even if some did bond. In fact, it was considered to be terrible manners to assume soul twins were blood bonded. After all, most _nas’falon_ were siblings and those that weren’t related more often than not held familial love for each other rather than romantic (my spirit guides stressed this fact many times in fact…unsure why. Perhaps it was social suicide to confuse the two? Or was extremely offensive to the _nas’falon_ to have their special bond perverted in people’s minds?)

What of marriage contracts and the two bonds? If bonded _nas’falon_ in particular would be equal in rank and power, how did marriages get a fair deal? Well, my friend, it depended. In some cases, blood bonds would be between two people of equal rank and be able to produce an heir, thus there was no need for a marriage contract unless another favorable one came up. Even then, it was up to the bondmates if they would be willing to accept any contracts outside their bond.

For bondmates who were unable to produce heirs and were nobility, often times they would only be allowed to bond if they took on a marriage contract. Some would have to fulfill the contract prior to the bonding. The families could in no way stop them from bonding, but they could very well hold up the Trials indefinitely unless they reached an agreement. The High Priests were responsible for mediating such things, advocating for the pair while the Archivists/Librarians advocated for the house. If the demands were unreasonable or dragged out too long, High Priests were known to dismiss the family’s stipulations on the basis of obstruction.

_Nas’falon_, however, were both simpler and trickier. Most were siblings and therefore it did not matter. Non-blood-related ones, but not bonded pairs didn’t pose much of an obstacle. One would usually be a guardian or shield sibling, and have no ties beyond that. The bonded _nas’falon_, though…

Contracts usually enforced a restricted role on the one not getting married. Sometimes this meant spouses ranking higher than the consort, or the consort title being enforced unless the other could not be contacted and it was their word that was needed. (This was mostly during war times, mind you. Otherwise the spouse would be the decision maker).

It is sad to think such a beautiful thing has died out. I cannot tell you why we no longer have soul twins in our world. Perhaps the Veil is to blame. Perhaps it is the change in beliefs or perhaps some other force is at play. Only the Creators, or I suppose your Maker, would know the truth. Perhaps it is best we can no longer bind our souls together.

It still makes the world a much darker place, though, don't you think?"

_\---Keeper Aeantiz to an unknown scholar from Kirkwall_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of coming chapters: politics/war, aging, religion prior to Evanuris.
> 
> If you have a suggestion, do be sure to let me know. Those are the only ones so far that I have.


	6. Codex: Life and Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the Elvhen viewed life and death, from ages to their curious life magics to uthenera itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done due to Chapt 35 hinting at a concept covered here. Also contains a breakdown of age spans in case you never saw that post. I apologize if it's confusing, let me know so I can attempt to fix it.

_ Taken from the notes of travelling Keeper Aeantiz. The margins are scribbled in with dragonscales or circles. Many ink blots litter the pages, some tea stains, maybe a few drops of blood or tears. Some parts of the notes are unreadable--not by damage, but just a lack of penmanship. One page is nothing but a crude drawing of the night sky, constellations, and an astarium. Along the bottom, the question: What the fuck Tevinter? Or was it Elves? _

What is death to an immortal being? What was Uthenera? What would life then be? How do we even begin to comprehend the lifespan of the ancient Elvhen when we live such short lives?

The guides help; they show me little glimpses in the middle of old ruins. But these are but fleeting fragments compared to the enormity they show. 

An Elvhen life was slower; they had time to think, plan, and truly perfect everything they did. Any action taken was necessary from a thousand stitches in a dress to a battle plan. They strived to be perfect, ethereal, a perfect essence of their chosen task. A warrior embodied Valor or Justice, a priest emulated Love or Patience. 

Such perfection takes a great deal of time, of course, the Elvhen knew this. Their shared culture encompassed this belief. But they believed every soul capable of it. For they came from perfection.

*******

The oldest tale, mere mirror fragments left in the Fade, is of the Void. This Void and our world once existed together, tearing each other apart. On the brink of destruction, the two tore a great rift between them the Elvhen called the Beyond. 

And so our world, created from Everything, began to thrive. Life sprang forth. For a time, the two survived separately. But such a division could only remain stable for so long, much like a wound left to fester. 

Our world began to collapse, as did the Void. Trees and plants overtook everything, the seas ravaged whole areas, fires burned endlessly. The Spirits that had willed themselves into life--the first Elvhen--fought and tore each other apart, bending the very world to their will.

Two halves separated, you see, cannot remain apart. Just as we have one heart, so too does our world. Everything and Nothing work in tandem to create the great balance we see in the world, good or bad. Separately, Everything would strangle us with Life, and Nothing would cease to exist.

The Void understood this, but It knew that they could not exist together as they had before. They needed Balance. So the Void reached through the Beyond, pulling at Its twin’s power of creation, to form a Spirit all Its own. A Spirit of Balance.

Balance slipped through the Beyond and into our world. It brought the Void’s touch back into this plane, taking command of the wanton destruction Life unchecked had caused. It tended to the world as one would a garden. It weeded out the things that would choke life from the world, keeping the parasites that killed other parasites, destroying the flowers that overstepped their bounds. 

The Beyond became the Well of Souls: the place all souls were born from both Everything and Nothing; in death, they travelled back there to be reborn. The sun and moon were born as the two entities stepped away from the world, not far, just into the Beyond. 

The sun shone brightly, nurturing life, but also destroying it with those very same rays; a symbol of Everything, the very core of Life. The moon, using the sun’s light, waxed and waned, pulling the Veil this way and that; it balanced the Void’s pull with its changing face.

Everything and Nothing worked in tandem, and Life prospered. It is this balance between light and dark, spirit and demon, life and death that the Elvhen sought to emulate. It was the perfection of Balance.

*****

When an Elvhen was born, their spirit had to be formed in the Beyond. They believed a soul to be bits and fragments of ancestors, pressed together by the Void. The child’s body, their blood called to certain souls louder than others, pulling and remembering blood ancestors, bringing them together once more. The blood remembered the soul better than the mind, as they often said.

At birth, with the first breath, the soul is said to pull through the Beyond and find solace in the body. This protected the newly formed spirit from corruption. As the child grew, the spirit would become whole, adapt to its new life. Once all the pieces were whole, the child’s magic would manifest. Or a type of magic, anyway. The guides tell me the Elvhen believed in two forms of magic: Life and Fade. 

Life magic was the soul mixed with a bit of blood magic, as best we can figure. This magic came from those fragments of the soul; it made their heart beat, their lungs breathe. Every child had Life magic when they were born. 

A few had a condition known as ‘soul twin’ that cut that Life magic in half with the other half existing in another being, thus making them entirely dependent on each other’s life. But the Elvhen believed soul twins to be the epitome of the Great Balance: two beings so in-sync they could not live without the other. 

It is hard for me to imagine magic being responsible for my life, but from the memories I’ve seen...The Elvhen’s immortality was a result of this pool of magic inside them. Their Fade magic, what we might call mana, fed into their soul, strengthening it as they slept--if they slept. Each year, their soul’s well deepened...But I am jumping ahead.

Mana and the ability to cast spells typically came within the first decade of a child’s life. They believed the completion of the soul allowed them to hold excess mana, as well as draw more to them as there was no Veil between the Elvhen and the Fade.

I imagine the Elvhen would scoff at the shemlen Circles. Magic was in their very air, and, apparently, in their very soul. They inherently knew how to cast spells--perhaps from the fragments of spirit they came from?--but that did not mean they did not train their children. Control, balance, and power were the core tenets of Elvhen teachings. 

Children were taught how to manage their mana, as they often used too much or too little. Too much and they may damage their soul barrier, a sort of veil between Life and Fade magics. Tapping into Life magics tended to be destructive and dangerous. The High Priests were the only ones trained in the animancy: the school of souls. 

What of Blood Magic? They did partake in such a school, but only under certain circumstances. The Elvhen Bloodlines often held strange abilities like absorbing magic from others or talking to animals. Some of those abilities were inherently dangerous, not just to the user but to others around them, such as the former. Life stealers they were sometimes called. Blood Magic would be taught to help manage that ability, as it dampens the connection between the individual and the Fade. 

So it was not the act of the desperate as it is now, but a tool to help those born with unique circumstances. It was necessary to maintain an individual’s balance as well as that of the people around them. 

Children would also be taught other skills from writing and reading to math and history. In some areas, they would begin learning to fight once their bodies grew enough (as best I can tell, Elvhen grew similarly to us, though the aging started slowing around 20 and halting entirely by 30. Only the oldest Elvhen looked to be older than 40). 

They took their time teaching the young of the world. There was no rush to grow up. Children grew as trees do, in their own time and almost imperceivable at a glance. 

Not to say they didn’t have responsibilities; there were classes still. The farmer child would have to muck out Hart stalls or plow the field be they Elvhen or shemlen. But they didn’t have fifteen short years to learn the world as we do. They had a century, surrounded by a family that could very well have a five thousand year old grandparent to teach and guide them. 

Around one hundred, children became Elvhen teenagers. Not quite adults, but not quite children, this was a period of change. Their magics were controlled enough that they could begin a specialty or vocation. They became apprentices, often to one of the oldest in their family. This apprenticeship lasted centuries, many times until they were a thousand.

In some places, military service was mandatory between ages 300-500. Other places merely trained them in ways of war, tactics, weapons, etc. It depended on the area of the Empire, honestly. Some areas were more commerce areas, others military. The Brecillian Forest for example, were militaristic by default due to an influx of demons and spirits in the area and the many houses waging war on each other. The Rialto Coast, by contrast, were traders and merchants with fleets of ships. 

Noble teenagers began to be groomed for their station, much like in today’s societies. As far as I’ve been told, noble families often had a distinct line of succession, roles for each level. Wherever the child landed on that line of succession, they began learning of the role once they were old enough. 

At five hundred, they became young adults. Nobility often began suitor hunting with grand balls and parties. Those of redder blood often began courting as well. The guides say this was the romantic period of one’s life, with a gentle eye roll. Indeed, more marriages and bonding happened between five hundred and a thousand than after (it was illegal to marry prior to five hundred or until the end of an apprenticeship in  **most** sections of the Empire strangely). 

But that’s for another day. 

Most apprenticeships ended around 700-800, though they could begin a second specialization afterwards, which would take another few centuries if not half a millennium. Many left home to explore the world. Some settled elsewhere, but most returned home. Family seemed to be quite important to the Elvhen, bloodlines in particular, so it is not very strange that most children returned and stayed with their families even after bonding. They just might split time between the two sides.

One thousand or thereabouts typically marked the beginning of adulthood. Many took over as head of households or businesses, even if the elder was still alive. Families began usually in this period. Elvhen began to hit their stride in this portion of life. They had enough experience to deal with their stupid decisions, as a few memories pointed out, but not enough to not make them.

By this time, however, Elvhen had a deep enough wellspring of Life magic they no longer required sleeping. They could meditate a few hours a day, and receive the necessary refresh of their magics. Quite useful as they began to learn the spells that took days or weeks to cast uninterrupted. 

In some memories, they didn’t even need to eat or drink. Their bodies were sustained by pure magic. Imagine. Even in times of great famine, they needed only enough to feed the younger generations. Diseases only affected the young babes or the frail. And that is only the surface of what could be accomplished by this…expanding lifepool.

By three thousand, an Elvhen was classified an elder. They enjoyed retirement from many of life’s struggles. Their children took over businesses or households; the Elder was merely an advisor. They could have time to dabble in strange projects, to teach and guide with their immense lifespan. 

But, if an Elvhen’s lifespan is determined by their lifepool, their Life magic, which is ever expanding...how does one die? Well, it is as beautiful an answer as it is saddening. 

They will themselves to die.

It took many memories of the last moments of an Elder to understand what that meant. Uthenera means ‘waking dream’. Elders do not sleep and thus do not dream. When they do, it is for centuries at a time, a sort of uthenera that allows the Elder to enter a sort of stasis. 

Whole temples were dedicated to these slumbers, places where High Priests trained their apprentices to tend to the Elders with balms and incense. For not just Elders entered this sort of uthenera. A grievous wound, or a great loss of mana could send adults and some young adults into it: to give the body time to heal while the spirit is away. 

Upon waking, the Elder, or other Elvhen, would receive care and memories of the time passed so they could resume life easily. (Memory sharing and the school of memories is a whole bag of cats I won’t try to explain just yet, more memories are required)

A less permanent death to be sure. There are also memories of phylacteries, of Elvhen breaking a small piece of their souls away and placing them in objects as a failsafe-- _ more research is needed _ _ . _

So how did an Elvhen actually die?

When an Elder grew tired of the world, their soul began to break apart. Their bodies quickened as their will deteriorated. Some took a sword to their chests, or volunteered to fight some suicidal fight. Many simply withered away. 

** _It is an Elvhen’s will to live that kept them alive for thousands of years. To lack that will would kill them._ **

Then what of depression, that disease of the mind that drives some to end their own life far too early? It would depend, it seems. A young child or teenager’s magic is not so tied to their life that their bodies require it to live. An adult or elder, however, have such a tie between Life and Fade, that lacking will to live is a death sentence. 

The Elvhen understood such afflictions. Depression, a despair demon in their head, whatever they called it, could be seen and felt in an Elvhen’s aura. It would dim, they might seem ages older, they would grow thin from lack of food, they would sleep, etc. 

High Priests would be summoned. They would tie their life with the individual affected by the disease. A sort of mock blood bond. It put tremendous strain on the Priest, often forcing them to eat and sleep despite their years, but they saw it as necessary to help bring the afflicted back into balance within themselves. 

If a bondmate or soul twin existed, they would be guided by the High Priest on how to ensure their partner survived this ‘imbalance’ (did they think it was too much Void or something? Note: figure out what they classified as an imbalance). 

Barring tragic ends, usually death was believed to be a beautiful time. A cycle was coming to a close. When the Elder died, their soul was guided back to the Beyond by the spirits. The best parts of their soul, the parts that touched other people’s lives (humor, smiles, mind, etc) remained intact, to be brought back into a new soul.

Elders who touched and guided many people’s lives, their souls were too precious to destroy. They would be guided into the Beyond, still, but left whole, shining bright in the night sky as stars, so that they may continue to guide the People. For the Stars, more so than the Moon or Sun, were ever constant, ever present as they gazed down on the world. 

So next time you look up at the stars, give a nod of thanks for the ancestors watch over you, eh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, for you few who actually read end notes! A little author tidbit.
> 
> You'll notice that all the codex entries mention a Keeper Aeantiz, and probably think 'self-insert', right? WRONG. Aeantiz is actually the name of my oldest OC. I create them in any RPG with a character creator first, including Dragon Age. Usually this first game is filled with screw ups and bad decisions, so they are a very...morally ambiguous character (they let the desire demon stay in Connor for example...for that sweeeeeeet blood magic...in my original world, they are the Goddess of Chaos/God of Life if you need another example), but the reason why I use them as the Keeper finding these codexes is because a lot of these headcannons began with their story. My first instinct when starting this story was for Banal to be Aeantiz, but I thought people would view it as a self-insert given my pseudo. It's just a little nod to the seed of these things you know?


	7. Codex: Songs, Poems, and Other Useless Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of bad poetry used in the series (will continually update) with little notes and whatnot as though stumbled upon by a very confused Keeper in service to the Inquisition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most will come from Sun and Shadow, this is more for quick references...basically for me as I'm the only one who needs such things. And sometimes I only put in small sections of these.

_Be careful da’len,_

_For time must be won._

_If one soul becomes two,_

_Then of two shall make one._

_Without another half,_

_No cry shall sound,_

_No smile seen,_

_Until two are bound._

_ *_

_Take heart, da’len_

_For two stars alight_

_Guiding their way_

_Forever in the night_

_Together they shall lie._

_Two hearts as one_

_In dreams they meet_

_This tie shan’t be undone._

_ *_

_Cry not, da’len_

_For it is the Way_

_The world shall balance_

_Just as night becomes day_

_They will find their path_

_To each other’s heart_

_For even in death,_

_Nas’falon never part._

**A -** lullaby found within an old memory, or whatever you might call it sounding through the air as you walk through a dream...<strike>Poorly </strike>Roughly translated into common, losing much of its musical quality. I told you I am no bard. Why in the world you are interested in this old thing is beyond me, shemlen....

**L -** Don't ask. What can you make of it?

**A -** Just a little tale about 'nas'falon'. If a soul (one) splits (two), then there's a little window of time where the first doesn't die. Until then you have a husk of a babe. Second verse probably has something to do with how the pairs meet. They don't connect to the Fade like normal people, instead if they go to sleep at the same time, they enter a...weird soul palace place? Like a pocket of the Fade only they exist in. Third verse is...well it's interesting.

**L -** How so? Isn't merely saying they can't survive without each other?

**A - **Aye, but why "never part"? I mean barring a translation error, if one dies before the other, haven't they parted? Something just doesn't sit well...Need more information on this 'animancy' school.

**L -** Understood, report back soon.

* * *

_A new day shone alight_

_And so the Sun ended_

_The dark call of Night_

**C - **What the hell does that even mean?

**A - **Your guess is as good as mine, flat ears. Found it in an old temple. Was written beneath a mural.

**L - **What mural and where was this temple?

**A -** A very damaged one and a highly inaccessible one. Had to turn into a mouse to get to it. Mountain buried it. Try to blast your way in and you'd destroy the temple. I could try to draw it for you.

**L -** Very well

_A crude painting of a dark night sky being beaten back by the dawn silhouetted two figures (?) one fading into the darkness and the other shining with sunlight. _

* * *

_Green and Red/_ _Should be dead_

_Eyes of Void/_ _Heart devoid_

_Black the Mark/_ _Brings the Dark_

_Blood of men/_ _Flows again_

_Spare us now/_ _We will bow_

_Scourge will come/_ _Kill the Sun_

**A - **An old Elvhen nursery rhyme...like "Ser William" or "Bonnie Lynn" <strike>badly </strike>translated.

**H -** Ah nothing like creepy children songs...

**A - **Right? Try hearing that whispering in your ear in a dream.

**H** \- I can't dream

**A - **Lucky.

**L - **What exactly is it talking about though?

**A - **Simple. Voidborns. "Green and Red" are "Eyes of Void", they have "Black the Mark" that "Brings the Dark". Apparently Voidborns should be killed at birth for fear of the Scourge happening again...which is, in case you couldn't tell, the last three lines.

**L -** Yes, thank you for your helpful input.

* * *

_Listen, child, and listen well_

_To this story I have to tell_

_*_

_A Hunter stalks its prey_

_Through the night, into day_

_Over hills, and through woods_

_Never stopping, though it should,_

_Until the prey lies at its feet_

_Bloodied, broken in defeat_

_For naught but blood and glory_

_Does the Hunter end their story._

_*_

_A Monster waits without a sound_

_In the dark, it is always bound_

_With no home above,_

_No warmth of love,_

_ It creeps and crawls_

_Around corners and through the walls._

_It hides within the shadows_

_Fearing the end at the Gallows._

_*_

_And so child, it falls to you_

_This simple task we've come to_

_I have but one question_

_And in this question: a tiny lesson._

_Fair is Fair, and Right is Right_

_But is it always Dark versus Light?_

_If the Hunter hunts and the Monster hides,_

_Which of them deserves to die?_

**A -** My favorite so far. Bit of a head spinner, no?

**C**** \- **What does this even mean? It sounds like a mad hermit in the woods wrote this.

**A -** I am not a bard and do you know how hard it is to translate Elvish into common? Deal with it.

**L - **It's a morality riddle of a sorts, is it not? (C do not antagonize our mad hermit friend)

**A - **Right. We fear monsters because they hide, but glorify people who hunt/kill for sport. Double-standards seem to be common in ancient times.

**C -** And...where did you find this gem? Not by talking to a tree right?

**A -**...Classified. You can prove nothing.

* * *

_I Guide the Wheel;_

_Tell the Stars where to Shine,_

_And plot the Course._

_I Guide the Wheel;_

_Tell the Moon to Hide_

_And replenish her Life._

_I Guide the Wheel;_

_Tell the Night to Veil_

_And kill the Day._

_I Guide the Wheel;_

_Tell the Sun to Ignite,_

_And blind the World._

_In Chaos, Order is Found._

_In Order, Chaos is Lost._

_I Guide the Wheel._

**A -** Found at [the word has been burned from the page] on the bottom of an old statue. I believe the statue to be the "I" in the poem.

**L - **What did this statue look like?

**A - **Old, weathered. Seems to be a person (or spirit) though there are too many details worn away. Holds their arms like a balance, though the artifacts in either hand have crumbled away. Faint residue of magic on them, suggest a magical effect was once placed on it. 

**C - **And this...was beneath it?

**H - **What's it talking about? "Kill the Day" sounds ominous.

**A -** I believe "The Wheel" is like "The Great Cycle". Wheel of Time, that sort of shit. The Elvhen may have believed some spirit was behind it all.

**L -** And the commands?

**A -** No idea. Perhaps it is merely poetic license?

**L -** Knowing the Elvhen? Doubtful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Psssst...I still hate poetry ;P)


	8. Codex: Banal'vallas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do all those colors mean? How do they work? Answer: ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally remembered to get this out. The color section is correct, the rest is speculation. Have fun deciphering.

_After much pestering and prodding and pulling teeth, your Inquisitor finally gave in on the topic of his strange vallaslin. Well, not vallaslin. They aren't formed from blood, nor given. But we'll get to that. Below are my notes from our conversations._

* * *

  * Not called _vallaslin_, but _vianvallas_ (brand/mark) or _banal'vallas_ (Mark of Nothing or maybe Mark of the Void?) specifically. They appear to be magic rather than anything of substance. Asked how and why he had them, all I got was a shrug. Perhaps it is an adaptation the spirit made? I heard of another possessed apostate glowing blue when he got angry, so maybe Balance made those markings on its host? And it just sorta stuck with the bloodline?
  * On the topic why the twins did not have them: "they are young, their magics are still growing and balancing. Once they accept their shadows", they'll have their own aurora tattoos. Whatever that means.
  * How they work...magic 
    * Basically, emotions hold power; it's why demons and spirits are often tied to a metaphysical concept like Pride or Love. That power leaks into the world, and spirits pick it up. Balance's duty is to maintain...well balance. Good emotions can be bad in some instances, just as bad emotions can be good. Give and take. So, when say some people all are afraid, a Balance Spirit can pick up on that, and apparently the Inquisitor for whatever reason (see first note) senses it and his markings change colors. Magic.
  * Will they be the exact same design on each bearer? No. They are unique markings. Maybe they tell a story? Sorta like fingerprints?
  * Each color is tied to an emotion which can also correspond to a type of demon, though that is merely a coincidence I think...And each color has a 'song' tied to them. (this is an **extreme** simplification as the shade and hue plays a role as well as is it red violet or blue violet? More of a blue green or yellow green? but for the sake of simplicity I've gotten the main ones and the sounds he said are different for each person he listens to, so I did not include that.)

** _L_ ** _: why colors? And who decided which color goes where? _

_**A:**_ _You are really asking me? You'd sooner get answers from a demon._

  * Red: Anger or perhaps passion? (makes sense)
  * Orange: Pride. (I thought it'd be blue or purple like the demons but apparently not)
  * Yellow/Gold: Envy. (I suppose gold does cause the most envy...)
  * Green: Fear. (Terror demons are green and forest-like so okay)
  * Blue: Hate. (cheery)
  * Purple: Despair (not depression)
  * Pink: Lust/Desire. Can be non-sexual desire. (Thankfully)
  * Brown: Guilt, as guilt is a mix of emotions usually, it tends to show as brown. Depends on the emotions making the guilt what the particular color of mud will be.
  * White: Contentment (he got a little smile on his face when he said this)
  * Black: Corruption/Void (pretty self explanatory)
  * Grey: Depression (not despair. Depression is...nothingness, it's a void/emptiness whereas Despair is sadness or grief)

_**L: **I take it, mixed colors like turquoise are a combination of these primary colors?_

_**A:** Best I can figure? Sorta yes and sorta no. I've seen him with multiple colors swirling through the vianvallas, and I've seen mixed colors._

_**L: **Did you ask him about it?_

_**A: **No I thought I'd leave a little bit of mystery. Yes I asked him, shem. Keep reading._

  * The lighter the color, the "less wrong" the emotion. 
    * Note: softer colors can also be internal emotions. Something about the bearer's emotions echo into the world strong enough to be picked up on by the markings, sort of a feedback loop. So a soft blue could mean self-hatred...actually that's probably all that one means...can't imagine hate ever being good or in balance with the universe...
    * "Good" emotions are ones that don't bring the person out of balance. Some Anger is good, if you repress it or don't work through it and it stays, that's when it becomes bad. I suppose it depends on the person as well and the situation. Do you cling to it? Is it understandable in a situation? Does it hinder you? Probably anyway. He just describes them as "not annoying". 
  * The darker the color, the "more wrong" the emotion.  

    * Clarification: As black means corruption, the closer to black a color is, the more out of balance that particular emotion is making the person. Can also be a sign that the bearer is getting close to losing control. Remember that.
  * Mixed colors: can be a combination of emotions. Amber, for example, could be Pride and Envy, or Anger and Pride, or Anger and Envy. Violet can be Hate and Despair, Anger and Hate, or Anger and Despair. Most often if there are two or three separate emotions that aren't tied together, they show as separate colors.  

    * It's usually complex emotions that have mixed colors (see brown as an example, or greyish colors are linked to depression in some way, etc). Or in other cases, the two emotions are linked and are not defined well separately like a red violet could be grief manifesting as anger. Anxiety becomes many forms of green, depending on what's causing it. 
      * Do not ask for more information; I got a headache from trying to comprehend this magic.

** _L:_ ** _ Need more information on what "complex emotions" are._

  * The Black Mark on the twins' hands apparently appears at birth, disappears for awhile, and then reappears when they are older (usually their first power surge...or as he liked to put it: when their Shadow first emerges). It is benign, for the most part. Might work similarly to the Anchor, only reaching into the Void rather than the Fade. (I do sense strange magic emanating from it, so I think that theory is solid)
  * The Shadow, as he likes to call it, is basically a...spirit form? Hard to describe. When the Void manifests, this world cannot adapt to it, so It twists the world slightly (the Taint for example) to allow it inside. So this Shadow is the Void magic manifesting, twisting the world around it, forming a sort of demon/spirit form. It's basically excess Void Magic physically manifesting in this world, ready to be used by the Voidborn. 
    * Unique to each person, though it seems place of birth/childhood does influence it slightly. 
    * Strangely, the type of "Fade" magic the person is most attuned to can be used to know what type of Void Magic they'll have. Basically it's the same magic but does the opposite effect. So The Inquisitor had an affinity for fire magics, ergo his Void Magic is black fire that freezes everything it touches. Vhena's is black ice that burns. An'nas is black lightning that grows like vines. Wonder what earth magics would translate to? Storms? Air? 
      * Inquisitor tells me it's not really Fade magic, but Void magic mimicking Fade magic. Voidborns (aside from him) do not and cannot use Fade magic. The best they can do is mimic it. 
        * Why? Defensive mechanism. Same reason why they are undetectable by most forms of scrying. 
    * It can defy all logic.

_**L:** How so?_

** _A:_ ** _ Teleportation, resurrection, complete transformations, heal fatal wounds, reverse time, duplication, pocket worlds, total mind control, memory control, complete and total annihilation if they were feeling especially testy._

** _L:_ ** _ Are these confirmed applications of Void Magic?_

** _A:_ ** _ Define Confirmed. I talked to the bloody GOD OF CORRUPTION. I'm not about to ask "hey can you show how many ways you could end the world?" It defies logic, even more so than blood magic. Do not underestimate it._

  * **Void Magic is weird as fuck.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next is naming conventions, then probably political hierarchy? Anything else? Let me know and I'll see if it's going to be covered in the main story or if it's just flavor text. 
> 
> No idea if I translated banal'vallas correctly. It looked better than vianvallas'banal or vian'banal or vallasbanal and I'm more about that word aesthetic than I am about correct grammar. (Mahviiral for example. Pretty sounding, pretty looking, probably not correct.)


	9. Codex: Stars and Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naming conventions/traditions of the Ancient Elvhen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one asked for this, but I liked this bit of lore I made up. The Dalish bit was from Project Elvhen, but it worked with my idea and made sense.

We Dalish follow a very old tradition of naming our children, but it is not the oldest. At most it is a memory of our ancestors, as is most of our culture to be fair. We have a Soul Name (what people know us by), our parental name, and our clan name. Our ancestors, or your Inquisitor (since I know that is why you are asking, _durgen'len_), followed a similar pattern by the end of the Elvhenan. At least from my few instances of hearing actual names. 

However, prior to the rise of the Evanuris (or the Creators if you will), there was a much older tradition. It came from the older belief in stars, fate, and nature. I have mentioned the old creation story about Everything and Nothing, how they found balance, yes? How the Beyond or the pathway to the Void is where souls go after death and the greatest of them become stars in the night sky? 

Well the old ways revolved around the idea that our ancestors and the best of us watch over us, guiding us down our paths. Our fate is written in the stars of our birth basically. When our souls are formed, we attract pieces of blood relatives to help form it along with other pieces the Void decides. Our souls are released at the exact moment the Void decided for us, when the stars have arranged themselves perfectly for us. They know all there is about the lives we will lead, though it is not always the best destiny nor is it always a happy one. Fates or the Stars can be as cruel as any Darkspawn at times. 

A few months after birth, sometimes several depending on the family, a High Priest is called. These High Priests primary function is "to guide souls". Best I can figure they are scholars of the school of animancy, but I suppose I'll have to get specific later. You don't care for Elvhen politics anymore than you do _shemlen_. But High Priests have the duty to read the stars, to give the child their "star name". Every noble house had what we would consider a solarium, peasants would take the child to a Temple of the Stars. These places had a special...thing? Device? Magic? Imagine an astarium...that you walk into. There are lens and wheels and mirrors and magic that at a High Priest's direction will arrange themselves to create a replica of the night sky the day the child was born. And by replica I mean having the stars inside the room with you.

They read these stars. Some major stars had their own name and meaning, some were specific to bloodlines. Same with constellations. It was a whole school to read the stars, to know what this star or that constellation meant in a certain position in the sky, the time of year. And some stars were so rare outside of some bloodlines, that the position and time were irrelevant. 

Obviously, there were some...discrepancies between classes of people. A farmer would never see a royal star, and a royal would never see a star of disgrace. Even if they happened to show up, they were ignored as another child was born that same day (not too bad a lie, even if Elvhen reproduced at a far slower rate than even _durgen'len_ do now). 

But regardless, by some method, they pieced together a name. Some star names were unique to bloodlines, others were just generic. For example, you'd never see more than one Elgar'nan or Solaran at a time. Not entirely sure the specifics as all but scraps of memories exist of this lost art, but there you go. Star names tended to be gender neutral, more of a destiny, a title more than anything. They were what the world would know them by, much like first names or our soul names. 

Blood names on the other hand, were given to them by their parents. Sometimes years after their birth, sometimes at the time the stars gave their name. It depended. Older houses, or nobles would pick from a handful of ancestral names to give the child. Something they thought the child should aspire to be. Redder bloods would wait for the child to grow and pick a name that suited them. 

These names tended to be gendered, but not always. And they were not set in stone. Shifters, those who shifted their sex or got rid of it entirely, could change their blood name to match their new self. It was not uncommon or even thought much about. The blood name was only used with close friends or family, or in instances where a shifter's star name was gendered incorrectly. Or if the person happened to prefer their blood name. Many blood names were used as childhood nicknames that just stuck throughout the years. 

So there you have it, _durgen'len. _No idea why you are so curious. And before you ask, as best I can figure it, Mahviiral would be your Inquisitor's star name. Banal is more of a blood name, though that I doubt. Some names were...sacrilegious. Banal or Nothing, would be one of those names. So he either had a very shitty family, or that name was given to him by an enemy.

And I fear whoever had the sheer balls to name him nothing. 

\---_A letter found on Varric's desk, written in a very familiar messy scrawl and accompanied with a sketch of a solarium with a bunch of old elves (stars?) seeming to argue in the sky above it_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: a lot of this world building is from my original world that I adapted to Thedas. Because I will most likely never finish an actual novel that could make me money, so I might as well use my five years worth of worldbuilding for something... Obviously not the exact same things, but many concepts are similar. Like naming. I like the idea of names being destined or fated, along with constellations being used to predict the child's life. Sorta like the zodiac, but less personality based.
> 
> Yes I do envision that scene in Mulan with the ancestors arguing about things as a good visual for the stars. And yes political stuff is coming next.


	10. Codex: The Elvhen Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is much ado about elvhen politics...so much even an Orlesian bard would struggle to understand it all.
> 
> Minor Spoilers for Chapter 39 (unreleased)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of this makes sense, then congrats! If it doesn't, don't worry it means nothing to the story!
> 
> I am sure almost everything about this is wrong, if you are a history buff with a minor in politics. It's fantasy is my only excuse for not actually trying to research more.
> 
> Warning: A MASSIVE WORD DUMP! Like seriously, this is just word vomit with some structure. It's probably boring to everyone, but now it exists in case you want to know the difference between a High King and King.

_Oh boy, shem, if you didn't hit the heaviest topic...Why so interested in a dead empire's political system anyway? Don't answer that...you're Orlesian, I suppose it makes sense. Fine. I'll compile my notes on the topic for you. Most of them are straight forward, or there's barely any mention of them in the Fade. Let's start from the top, shall_ we?

* * *

The Palace of Dawn (_Athdhea'an_)

  * Sun Royal (_Vun'raj(a/en)_)/Emperor: At the very top of the food chain, was the "Sun Royal", the ruler of all of the Elvhenan. Unlike the Orlesian Empress, the Sun Royal held more of a symbolic power than actual power. For the most part, the Sun Royal only ruled over their floating Sun Palace (_Athdhea'an_) above Arlathan, but otherwise they were a neutral party in all respects. 
    * They controlled the eluvians (the roads of the Empire) to prevent petty squabbles closing them, they presided over the Council of Kings _(Ha'rajtuathe_), settling disputes among them and could create laws for the entire Empire, such as the (in)famous _nas'falon_ laws. But beyond those few duties? Just a symbol of the "triumph of light over dark, life over void". As they were the only truly neutral party, they could not hold land, typically did not marry "High Nobility" (more on that later), and generally were unapproachable by the common citizen.
    * Originally, as in at the founding of the Elvhenan, this title was the Shadow Royal (_Banal'ras'haraj_). There are conflicting memories of both the Sun and the Shadow coexisting, maintaining some manner of balance. Some say they were...dual emperors fighting each other, others say they existed together (two sides of the same coin), and still others say the Sun defeated the Shadow and they never existed at the same time. I think it's a combination of all three, just at different times, but I cannot confirm my theory.
    * All of this does not mean the Sun Royal was not accountable to anyone. There was a title that even they had to answer to: the High Priest, or more specifically the Grand High Priest. Honestly these priests did a lot of things, so much it gets confusing. The long and short of it is they were like your Chantry, in terms of structure. Just as the Empress is held accountable by the Divine, so too was the Sun by the Grand High Priest, who served as an advisor to the Sun. But to get much deeper than that...well we'll need a bottle of wine at the very least.
  * Moon Royal (_Evune'raj(a/en)_): Not sure what you would translate this one as. The Moon held very little power in terms of the Empire. They could be given tasks the Sun did not wish to see to, or make decrees in place of the Sun. But only at the direction of the Sun. That part is very important. They were not equal to the Sun, but served the Sun. 
    * Their primary function was royal baby maker. Usually there was one contracted person who held the position of the Moon for the life of the child, in one case there were several. Often though? They have a baby, raise it to about the first century, and then their contract ended. Pretty rotten deal if you ask me. Granted the Sun could blood bond to their chosen Moon, and a few did. But there are instances of this title not being used, see below.
    * To understand the role of the Moon Royal, you have to understand the symbology behind the titles. The Moon as a symbol represented the Void's waxing and waning influence on the world; the Sun represented the constant cycle of Life. The Moon was nothing but a reflection of the Sun, as they understood it the Void used its bond to Life to influence the world and create souls in the Beyond. Thus the reflection bit. So the Moon Royal could only be a reflection of the Sun, there to create and balance life, but nothing more.
    * Of the seven Suns, three were unique. The simplest to understand was the sixth: Leanos. He had a _nas'falon_ who was a High Queen, which obviously causes a bit of an issue. The Sun is suppose to be impartial to all territories, hard to do that when you had a soul twin ruling over one. But it was sacrilege to deny the pair, thus they blood bonded. _Nas'falon_ who blood bond remember are equal in terms of power; they are one soul in two bodies. As he married a fertile female, she was allowed to take the title of Moon Queen. But what this also meant was that for the first time in the Elvhenan the Moon had equal power to the Sun. If their society/culture/religion revolved around suppressing or "balancing" the Void, this was a big fucking deal.
    * The other two are similar. The Third and Seventh Suns were...how to put this delicately...they bonded to a shifter and another male respectively. Now, to clarify, a "shifter" was someone who "shifted" or used shapeshifting magics to change sex permanently. Gender was seen as a fluid, changeable thing, so in most societies throughout the Elvhenan it was not a "bad" thing to be a shifter. However, the magics involved did render the shifter infertile. See where this is going? 
      * The Third Sun, a queen whose name eludes me, not only bonded to a shifter, but to a female shifter. So even if her partner was able to bear children, they could not have one together. Thus her bondmate could not be given the title of Moon Queen, as that's pretty much the defining trait of that title. The Moon Royal **has** to create a child, that's their function, their symbolism. So a contract marriage was arranged, and the bondmate was given the next highest ranking: High Queen, despite not owning any land.
      * The Seventh Sun, if I believe your Inquisitor that would be Elgar'nan, had a _nas'falon_ (your Inquisitor) who was also male. Again the Moon Royal has to bear children, however remember the Sixth Sun's issue? _Nas'falon_ bypass all rules. So while the Inquisitor couldn't be called the Moon King, he was Emperor Consort essentially, and outranked the Moon Royal. He may have also been given regency over what would be his mother-in-law's position. For all intents and purposes though, there were two Emperors during the reign of Elgar'nan.
  * Royal Guards (_Paneathe'virelen_): Yes the guards of the Royal Family were a part of political hierarchy. These guys were the best of the best. The training was rigorous, brutal and utterly insane. They were bound life and soul to their Sun, ensuring absolute loyalty. Think like...Golem Control Rod level of loyalty. Saarebas level of loyalty. 
    * Commander of the Guard (_Raj'panathe)_: This was both the Commander and the Sun Royal's personal guard. 
    * _Panelan'virelen_: Master of Arms, this one's tricky. Basically this is the Commander's Second Hand, they are trained in every weapon imaginable, but not yet able to command the Royal Guards (Battle Mages). Which makes me wonder if there really was a spell to control the Royal Guards...Anyway, The Master of Arms was also the heir's personal guard, as they would both be the next in line for their respective roles 
      * Unlike the rest of the Guard who were promoted or recommended throughout the Empire, the Master of Arms was chosen at a young age (the youngest being 16...just 16, no other digits) through a Grand Tournament. I believe Sulahn'mi participated in one, though not one for this purpose. They were tests of skill and character as well as aptitude. These were usually held soon after an heir was born, so that the two might grow and learn together. 

* * *

High Nobility

  * The Great Houses: families who descended from the fifteen or so original tribes/clans. Only the heads of the House, or the immediate family were actually related to the Clans that formed the Elvhenan, servants/slaves, vassals, etc were considered to be a part of the House as a whole. I believe this is where the Dalish get our tradition of being called by our Clan name when outside of our Clans. A part of a greater whole, so to speak.
  * High Royal: the heads of these Great Houses. A good modern day equivalent is the Fereldan Teyrn. They govern a large section of land, with other "high nobility" underneath them. These are the guys with the fun monikers like: 
    * _Rasdalean'raj_: Assassin Ruler (technically this is the name of Lower House's ruler, but they were given a High King title eventually)
    * _Dinathe'raj_: Ruler of the Dead (ruler of the infamous _Adahlen'dinathe_ or as we would call it the Brecillian Forest)
    * _U'vun'raj_: Star Ruler (ask the Seeker)
  * [lost word]: Banns or Barons essentially. They oversaw specific cities under a High Royal's land. With the exception of the High Royal of Arlathan. Technically they ruled a single city, but were given the title of High Royal. Why? No idea honestly. Perhaps Arlathan was a huge city? Or it was just so someone high ranking controlled the capital. 
    * Technically, a Baron would be of a Lower House (a House of high standing within the Elvhen courts, but not one of the original Clans. House Lavellan would be a good example)
    * I believe the best translation of the lost word would be King or Queen. Not in our sense, mind you, and not like a High Ruler. Just Ruler. 

* * *

Low Nobility and Lowborns

  * Lord/Lady (_Tarlen/Tarlan_): People with enough influence and territory under a Baron to have influence in the court. Pretty much it. You might have different rankings depending on how much influence, but honestly that's just stupid and convoluted. For my purposes, it is enough to know the differences between Low and High nobility. 
  * Archivists/Librarians: A weird little category of nobility. Every noble House had them, and I'm not sure where they would fall in the hierarchy to be honest. I'm not even sure I understand their role. The Librarians, for example, have two references. One as tutors and scholars employed by noble houses for their children, and the Heads of the Archives...which is like a Fade Library where all knowledge was stored. Archivists, however, were heads of individual archives for the Houses. This could be due to the Sun Ruler having their own Librarians (at least that's my theory) who would oversee the Grand Archives. 
    * I do know that Archivists had another function beyond maintaining House records. They were the ones to draw up marriage contracts and alliances. They were sort of research assistants to the Librarians who would negotiate the contracts as well as be advisors to the head of House. 
  * Most clergy fall into this category, save for High Priests...which you guessed it are classified High Nobility. 
    * Noble Houses would have their personal Priest, or at least their own solarium/temple.
  * "Lowers" or "Lowborns" were basically everyone not nobility. 
    * _Sethlin_ was considered to be a highly offensive term for lowborns. While meaning "thin blood" and being a slang term for blood mages, it also was an insult about...the genetic quality of a person's bloodline...is that a polite enough way to say "your ancestors bred with slaves"? 'Cause that's literally the insult...
  * _Girem'len_ or slaves were about as low as low can be. Criminals were often called _girem'len_ as they were owned by the law, they just escaped. Fun, huh? 
    * Slavery was a common thing in the Elvhenan, but not all areas partook nor did they all have the same rules. 
      * Some areas had indentured servitude and nothing more.
      * Some had Tevinter style slavery
      * Some areas, though, the slaves were a part of the House, and treated as such. They were owned still, but it was...like adoption? Hard to explain. They were given a House name, which was a big deal given that most Elvhen only had their family name, and thus were technically higher on the food chain than say a farmer. They were often better cared for than other slaves, as they represented how...benevolent and well the head of House was. Still owned though, so...not all that great.

* * *

_All of this information, of course, is pre-Evanuris era. The Evanuris would see the end of separation of state and church, and possibly the whole High Priest thing, as they became god-kings, rather than blood-kings. I do believe they also demolished the Council of Kings fairly early by usurping the High Royals' thrones/lands and...well murdering the Great Houses. Or at least subjugating them as our Elvhen friends still use "High King" as a term. So perhaps they merely seized control of large swaths of land ruled by a few High Royals...as a patron god perhaps? Who knows?_

_Before you ask, I will attempt to sort my notes and parse my memories of the High Priests for you. Good luck!_

* * *

Priesthood

Prior to the Evanuris, the Elvhenan had a...loose religion based upon Order and Chaos. Nature. Light and Dark, Life and Death, that sort of thing. They believed that balancing one's soul was the only way to live, to not deny the darker parts of the self, but to keep them in check with the lighter parts. It's all very...not the Chant of Light. There was no "god" or deity, no need for redemption to gain eternal life or whatever. Just Void and Life, balancing each other to maintain our world. 

The closest thing they came to having a deity, were Spirits. They weren't revered like Andraste or the Creators, more like looked to as guides and examples of Balance. Even what we'd call demons like the Nightmare, were a part of this bond of order and chaos. Of these spirits, there is one who was given a name: Vethari, "behind the wheel". This was thought to be the first _Emaronun_ or Balance Spirit. The one created specifically to bring the Void back to our world, the overseer of fate if you will. "Vethari guide me" was often used alongside the stars and spirits. This is as much as I know about the religion prior to the Evanuris, though. It seems much was done to forget this Vethari and the Balance. I will continue to dig further (if you can get your Inquisitor to actually listen, that would help).

In order to become a priest, you had to have an innate talent for the school of animancy. My guides tell me the study and manipulation of souls wasn't for everyone and not everyone could even learn the spells. How did you know? Well there were signs, much like ever-shifting eyes were a tell-tale sign of an illusionist, eyes turning white occasionally was a sign of an animancer. It was a sign they could see auras and life with ease. Other signs included: enhanced empathy, high intuition, and strangely a familial history or a _nas'falon_. There were probably other less...vague signs, but those seemed to be the main ones.

The duty of the Priesthood were essentially to be Stars or Guides. They did the typical priest thing of tending to villages, confessions, birthing/naming, and what have you. They worked closely with doctors, however, meaning they had some talent in medicine. They maintained Temples and Catacombs. Temples were like your cathedrals. They'd give sermons and guidance, blah blah blah. Catacombs? They were where those in _uthenera_ (the less permanent kind) were kept. Apprentices tended to them with ointments and balms, keeping the soul tethered to the body. When the sleeper awoke, these Apprentices were trained to share memories with them, to prevent them from being utterly confused and overwhelmed. Apparently, another function of theirs was memories, or rather a part of animancy involved memories. Who knew? 

They also tended the more permanent kind's gravesites, keeping spirits away from the bodies buried under the soil beneath the giant trees. They were in charge of reading the stars, and giving children their star names. They communed with spirits and the stars to help guide their Houses (as Great Houses had their own Priest) as an advisor. But perhaps their most interesting role was bonding and other manipulations of the soul.

Bonding was a sacred rite performed by the Priests to literally fuse two people's souls. As such, there were trials to prevent...accidental or involuntary bondings. The Trials varied in numbers and tasks throughout the years, but the main Trial was being confronted by a Spirit of Love and a High Priest, literally prying into your soul. Apparently, animancy tells no lies, eh? The saying "the soul does not hide, but the heart does" I've heard many times. It doesn't hurt, I'm told, it's just...invasive? Having someone peer into the very fabric of your being, the truest part of you...is a bit like having a nightmare of giving a lecture completely naked, you know?

The other manipulations of the soul include: temporary bonds to "live for a melancholic person at risk of premature death" (lack of will to live was the Elvhen equivalent of slow suicide remember?), placing the injured or young into _uthenera_, guiding disconnected souls back to their bodies (astral projection maybe?), phylacteries (still more research), verifying _nas'falon_, and some other stuff that's really hard to understand. 

As for hierarchy, the priesthood was structured similarly to your Chantry. 

  * Grand High Priest: the Divine basically. Only less...holy? They were the oldest of the Priesthood, the most powerful probably of all the Elvhen. They served as an advisor to the Sun Royals, some memories suggest there was only ever one Grand High Priest throughout history, but that is both highly unlikely and very frightening if true. Some even claim they were Balance Spirits in mortal form, but given how badly they react to so called Voidborns...also doubtful.
  * High Priests: What's the term for the ladies underneath the Divine? Grand Mothers? Grand Clerics? Well whatever they are, that's what High Priests are. These are the ones that tended to Temples in big cities, advised the Great Houses, and did the naming ceremony as well as pretty much everything involving complicated soul stuff. They are basically the second most powerful animancers in the land.
  * Priests: Lower Houses and smaller cities had these to tend to them. They also oversaw the Catacombs, helped the High Priests in their tasks, and were generally more like Mothers in the Chantry.
  * Apprentices: Brother/Sister of the Chantry. They've gone through the secretive initiation, and have started learning the school of animancy. They tend to the day-to-day things like bodies in the Catacombs.
  * Initiates: the name says it all. Not fully accepted into the Priesthood yet, but skilled enough in animancy to be taken in by them (the Priesthood never turned away an Initiate...possibly due to animancers being a rare occurrence)

And a bonus fun fact? Like your Chantry's love for ridiculous headwear, the Elvhen Priesthood had their own dress code. Remember white eyes were a sign of an animancer? Initiates' eyes were left uncovered, shining brightly like stars when they used their abilities. Apprentices had their eyes covered by either a strip of fabric or a small opaque veil, but their face was left otherwise uncovered. Priests were allowed to either veil or not. If they were newly ordained, their face was uncovered, showing off them fancy white eyes (apparently after they finished their training, animancer's eyes remained white if they remained a Priest...probably some spell during their ordination), the closer they got to becoming a High Priest (if they did), the longer the veil would become, though less opaque this time.

High Priests and the Grand High Priest had full veils. They covered nearly every inch of their bodies, save maybe the fingers. The Grand High Priest had an intricate headpiece to separate them, along with robes and jewels befitting a member of the Sun's House. High Priests also wore grand robes befitting their Houses, or cities, but not like the Grand High Priest's. High Priests and the Grand Priest's veils were also once more opaque as in you couldn't see through them, though the High Royals/Sun Royals could be permitted to see their face...which apparently was a sign of them reading your aura or doing some other animancy shit. 

Veils were common in Elvhen fashion. The Sun Royal House often wore veils when amongst the masses, same with the Great Houses. Can't let those peasants see your glorious face. The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So aside from a codex about phylacteries and animancy, are there any other topics/lore you'd like to see? Cause this was the last one I planned. The aforementioned codex will be at a much later date...after I know what chapter it will spoil.
> 
> So please tell me what you'd like to know. I'm having fun writing these.


	11. Codex: House of Cards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A breakdown of all the Great Houses of the Elvhenan and some other minor houses. (Slight Spoilers for the entirety of the Nothing-verse)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another word dump, this time about bloodlines and Houses. Some of you might be able to figure somethings out from this information, but only if you remember certain details from Nothing. Otherwise, there's no real story-ruining spoiler. Just information you'd never get otherwise. 
> 
> Also I had to make this cheat sheet to help me keep track of areas, houses, and other things so eh enjoy?
> 
> All Elvish and all but two names can be found in Project Elvhen. The two names without translation would be ones I made up and cannot change at this point.

_ At your request, I have acquired all that is known about the Great Houses of the Elvhenan. For the most part these are the original Clans the Elvhenan came from, but some are not. Some have been lost, but a few...well they are interesting. —A. _

  1. **Ivun**: “_filled with life_”, The Sun Royal House. This House ruled the Elvhenan since the death of the Scourge. 
    1. Known as “life-stealers” (as in they had the affliction that allowed them to steal mana from their surroundings...including from people), they were the only line not stigmatized for their ability. Of course they could kill you without casting a spell, so…
      1. To choose a marriage contract, the Ivun’s had to ensure the person was resistant to their syphoning ability. Even with resistance, the Ivun’s had a very low birth rate, making them the smallest House of the Elvhenan.
    2. They were powerful blood mages out of necessity to control their powers, not the only House to use blood magic, but the most open about it.
  2. **Salladin**: “_soul of new life_”, rulers of Suledin’s area. 
    1. Powerful animancers (which I’m told is a hereditary trait), many of this House would be adopted into the High Priests’ (see below). They also had a tendency to have _nas’falon_ due to this.
      1. The last High Queen was the Sixth Sun’s _nas’falon_.
    2. Given that they were all animancers, they tied their lifeforce to their Keep, creating a sort of living fortress. In order to handle the strain of such a thing, the Heir of Suledin had to have a _nas’falon_. 
      1. According to the records, they are the only House to successfully maintain a living Keep as well as build one in the first place. But don't go demolishing Suledin trying to figure it out, the Inquisitor is its master now and there's nothing to be done about it.
  3. **Adahlfenor/Revas’vir**: The House ruling over the Brecilian Forest and Kocari Wilds (collectively known as the forest of the dead by the way). An interesting family line. 
    1. The original name was Adahlfenor “_precious tree_”, but at some point those of the House died out. They had married into House Revas’vir (“_way of freedom_”) prior to their demise, so the Revas’vir Heir was the only suitable one left. 
    2. From my understanding, those of the family that could use sylvan magics (another hereditary trait, though this one was also learnable, unsure of what particularly was hereditary about it...control maybe?) took the name Adahlfenor, while those who could not took the name Revas’vir. 
    3. Fell from grace during the Dark War when they sided with a Forgotten One named Geldauran.
    4. The last known Adahlfenor was a young prince who was involved in a scandal with an infertile female soldier. The memories suggest he was killed in battle, but there is no solid evidence of it.
  4. **Lavellan**: Not a Great House until some time after 5650 Ancient, before then they were a Lower House, and before that: slaves.
    1. They came to be a Lower House after their part in helping to assassinate their then-master The Scourge. They were given control of the Scourge’s old land: the Banal’rasan, an area spanning from the Nahasin Marshes to the Sundered Sea basically. 
      1. This is the largest tract of land a Lower House ever had…
      2. Also the most useless. The Banal’rasan was unforgiving, almost unusable in any way and almost always deadly to anyone.
        1. Main exports: berries, some fermented swamp water (otherwise known as wine), some fish, and death.
    2. They have a mastery over shadow magics, and some of them could even do small amounts of Void magic. They supplied the Empire with assassins and military might rather than physical goods.
      1. Strangely, the Lavellans did not put much stock in bloodlines, choosing “nurture” over “nature”. The Heir of the Lavellans was the strongest of the trainees who could assassinate the current Head of the House. 
      2. The Head of House could name an heir before then if they were experiencing a famine or some other bad thing. This Heir would be required to get as many marriage contracts fulfilled as they could before they either were killed by the true heir or killed the Head of House themselves. 
      3. Regardless of who was the Heir, the Heir would basically sell their womb/seed for trade with the other houses who saw them more like breeding stock than a true House.
    3. When a certain Mahviiral bonded to the Sun King and the then Queen Adahla was assassinated, the Sun King granted them elevation to High Royal status as a reward for their part in the Stone War.
    4. Obviously this name has survived into our era as Clan Lavellan. Strange how it is the one history remembered...
  5. **Tabri**: “_a person who embodied the reincarnated soul_”, Arlathan’s High Royal’s house. And perhaps the most assassinated house in existence. I found no less than 17 assassinated High Royals from this house, which for beings who live well past five thousand? That’s a lot. Technically, the Tabri’s should be a Lower House given they control a city rather than a large part of land...but they weren’t. Politics probably. Otherwise: boring.
    1. I think the elven name Tabris actually stems from this house.
  6. **Enasvevaral**: “_grace that remains_”, the House ruling over Rivain, Seheron and Antiva.
    1. Perhaps the least controversial House, as aside from some pirating contracts with merchants of their neighbor (the Terisinelan’s), there’s not much about them. Not even if they had an inborn ability.
    2. Ghilan’nain, the Inquisitor tells me, was from this house. Not as a royal, but adopted into it as a soldier. 
  7. **Myathilen**: “_many honorable sacrifices_” Rulers of the Anderfels, the largest House known for military focuses.
    1. They were primarily Battle Mages or what we might call Knight Enchanters. Or trained the best anyway.
    2. Most of the Royal Guards came from or were trained by this House.
    3. The Heir and Royals of the House were very powerful blood mages, combining the skills of a Knight Enchanter with the devastation of blood magic. 
      1. The Inquisitor told me that Elgar’nan studied under this house, which leads me to believe this was a House of training, or a “Guiding House” as it didn’t seem that the Myathilen’s held much political sway and their region was both desolate and peaceful.
        1. Perhaps it was more of a large swath of land used to train and hold the Sun’s army? Would make the most sense.
  8. **Sulemtarsylnin**: “_storm-bringer_” Rulers from the Hinterlands up to the Coastlands.
    1. In case you missed the name, this House was known for “weather” mages: a now-extinct school of magic that ruled the skies, calmed the seas, and raised the earth. 
      1. These mages often had glowing eyes of either blue, red, green or purple (colors associated with a particular element).
      2. My theory is that the Primal School of magic is the closest we can get to this particular branch. 
        1. And no “weather” magic was not hereditary, but the Sulemtarsylnin’s were unique in that they were born with a particular element. “Pure elementals” they called them.
    2. They had the closest relationship to the dwarves prior to the Stone War.
  9. **Syriannas**: “_breath of life_” Plain Rulers, or basically parts of Tevinter, Nevarra and Orlais.
    1. Another mercantile house, but with a twist. Sometimes called the Faceless House. Every member of the house wore a full mask or veil, so you never knew who exactly you were dealing with.
      1. I imagine they are thought of as the original shady merchants. Or Orlesians.
      2. This entire area was known for being the shrewdest of negotiators and the spirits tell me to “read a Syriannas contract thrice”. 
    2. Also known for glamors and shapeshifting 
      1. Glamours are a form of illusion magic. Zeyras uses them. Illusionists are born not made, thought to be due to a resurgence of spirit traits. Their eyes never stay the same color for long until they are properly trained.
      2. Illusionists change their appearance using light and magic to trick the eyes. Shapeshifters physically change. The two magics are incompatible, possibly due to the permanence of the change. 
    3. No one ever saw this House leading to some interesting rumors. That they hid as a lower House or two to protect their secrets or never existed in the first place. 
      1. And I mean no one. A representative would be sent to the Council of Kings. The Sun Royal might know the name of the current ruler, but never would meet them. 
  10. **Terisinelan**: “_one who created a stone that lights a fire inside_”, rulers of the Free Marches.
    1. One of the wealthiest Houses as their area boasted an impressive fleet of merchant “ships” (both air and sea), they rivaled House Enasvevaral though technically they were allied.
      1. Many of their merchant ships were pirates, selling illegal items (and people) and ransacking other ships for Enasvevaral. So Rivain has a long history of piracy it seems. 
    2. They were the “inventors” of a special enchantment/spell that allowed objects to levitate (hence air ships). Otherwise...kind of boring.
  11. **Arlise'sul'avelan**: “_Server of the Warm House_”, this house, according to the Inquisitor, is the House of Sylaise and June.
    1. This House trained Battle Healers, people like Nenara.
    2. Unremarkable until Sylaise took the throne as a living god.
    3. Followers of Sylaise often experimented with the School of Creation, healing magics as well as how to use such magics to harm. For research. Not for harm (so they say).
  12. **Amelanen’u’vunen**: “_keeper of the stars''_, this “house” really only had one true member: The Grand High Priest. 
    1. The High Priests were adopted into this house when they became initiates. 
    2. As Priests did not oversee any particular tract of land, this house is sort of honorary, there for hierarchy reasons, but little else.
  13. **Sylan**: “_kin of air_” possibly. Could also be “_sky kin_”. Tahon belonged to this House, after he was adopted by his mysterious father. 
    1. Rulers of The Frostback Mountains to Lake Calenhad
    2. Librarians and Archivists were trained by this House. Not that they were only bookworms. They boasted a large military force...think warrior monks. 
      1. Tahon told me these knowledge loving monks trained to be _Sou'i've'an'thanelan_, which are manipulators of the Fade or Veils. They turn the magic in the air into a physical...force. A Rift Mage basically 
        1. Combined with hand to hand combat and other weapons, they were quite skilled warriors that not many Houses wanted to fight against. 
      2. They guarded the Grand Archives as well. 
    3. This House was unique in that it served Fen’Harel during the Evanuris’s regin. It took in escaped slaves, wanderers and orphans frequently.
      1. Unsurprisingly, not many houses would try to recover their escaped slaves if they ran to the Sylan’s. 
    4. Skyhold was their “capital” spanning the entirety of the Frostbacks, connected by eluvians and other magical bridges. 
      1. Tahon blew it up *_a drawing of what appears to be Tahon getting punched off the battlements takes up the rest of the page_*
  14. [name lost]: The Scourge’s House and consequently the Inquisitor’s true house. Was erased so there’s not much I can tell you. Not even the Inquisitor could tell me what it was called.

Here are some other notable houses; you may be pleasantly surprised by our Elvhen friends.

  1. **Mahariel**: “_the opposing future_”, A house of the city Asahngaran famed for once saving the Sun among from drowning (sea water in the lungs will kill anyone, immortal or not). They started a school to train the most renowned healers of the Empire.
    1. Don't mention this name in front of Lotus.
    2. This name has survived into the modern day as I knew a Mahariel. Tragic tale that one.
  2. **Enladrin**: Sulahn’mi’s house. A small dukedom somewhere in Tevinter. No translation available.
    1. Has the honor of the first mundane Champion in the history of the Elvhenan.
    2. Ask Sula for more details.
  3. **Tyrlanden**: the Inquisitor’s adopted family name, a moderately influential Lower House somewhere in Orlais under the Syriannas House. 
    1. The Heirs of this house were called “Merchant Royals” but in truth only the main heir controlled the financials. The second controlled the spy network much like our Nightingale. The third tended to the griffons. 
      1. When I say moderately influential I mean extremely. The Inquisitor said this House had spies everywhere and were the best griffon keepers. 
    2. Supposedly they had connections to the Fen Clans as well as used/paid beggars as spies. 
      1. Sometimes called The House of a Thousand Eyes. 
    3. Some thought they were actually the Syriannas House...which could be true? There’s no evidence against it, anyway. 
  4. **The Fen Clans**: pre-Dalish Dalish. Basically. Nenara, Rithara, and Nehnlin all belong to this group of “clans” that did not conform to the Elvhenan’s rule. 
    1. Supposedly these clans aided The Forgotten Ones during their war, which is why they were all but destroyed and only small pockets of them existed. 
      1. While that is true, the Clans existed before that war. Given that they do not have a tradition of star names, I believe that they existed before the Elvhenan. 
    2. They were identified by a wolf paw print tattooed somewhere such as on the neck. It was a right of passage much like our vallaslin. 
    3. There were several clans throughout the empire, but a few notable ones were Nehnlin’s Clan which had a griffons (not rare but unusual given how nomadic the clans were) and another made of bastard children basically. 
      1. And by bastard children I mean illegitimate children of Lower or Great Houses that had their line’s ability but was not recognized as a part of the House. Children born to slaves most likely that escaped. 
    4. Unlike Dalish the Fen Clans were often robbers, thieves and mercenaries mostly due to them not being a part of the Empire, thus the laws did not apply to them. 
      1. Technically this was true. The Clans were not a part of the Empire and couldn’t even be arrested and detained. On the other hand that meant there was no punishment for killing them either. The more things change…
      2. Many Houses took advantage of their immunity and used Fen Clans as smugglers, spies and whatnot. Since the tattoo was normally hidden, you could not tell a Fen by a glance. 
      3. Also shapeshifting was common. So...that helps. 
      4. Certain traditions like star names also held no sway over them. They were (and I’m quoting Nehnlin here) “completely and utterly free from the bullshit of society”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so do to lack of...idk interaction? Reader engagement! That's the word! Due to lack of that, I only have three more chapters before this guide is finished. Barring anybody asking a really good question that I can't answer in a reply of course.   
They are:  
Fade vs Beyond vs Void  
Phylacteries  
Secret Project
> 
> The last two I have to wait until we get to that particular concept in the main story to avoid giving too much away. The Fade one is mostly to help describe the differences between the three terms in this story's context. That one will be released when I get around to it. The last one? That one is my favorite and was what I spent the majority of my hiatus fine tuning. It is the last puzzle piece...or maybe it's the invisible thread holding my weave together. And while it's not a spoiler in that you'll know what happens next, it is a spoiler in that it makes some things clearer, some things make more sense, etc. But it will never addressed in Nothing and only barely hinted at in Sun and Shadow. 
> 
> So yep it's been fun and look forward to it.


	12. Codex: Beyond the Fade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fade vs Beyond vs Void, who would win in "The Most Confusing Lore of All Time" contest?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More background lore that a) probably makes no sense and b) might never be explained. Enjoy 1% of people who reads this.

So I’m trying to wrap my head around all this magic nonsense. I know what the Chantry teaches us about the Fade, but Demonlord says there was no Veil then, so how did they have a Fade too? --C

* * *

What your Chantry teaches and what is true are completely separate things, flat ears. You should know that by now, given you work with a maleficar and, as you call him, Demonlord. 

I’ll try to explain.

The Fade as we know it, the land of dreams and spirits, did not exist separately prior to the Veil. It was a part of our world. Spirits came and went, thoughts caused spells, everything was...intangible. The very fabric of the world was malleable, ever changing. Ships could fly, and cities floated above the ground.

It was a state of the world, rather than its own world. --A

* * *

Alright, then how did they have Dreamers? Did they even dream? Or sleep? How did no Fade affect them? That other maleficar sees spirits while awake, I take it that’s not a new thing. So how did all that work?

And then _ uthenera _ how did that work when they came back to life after a long sleep? Where did they go if not to the Fade? --C

* * *

Dreamers weren’t a real thing, not in the sense you are thinking of. As for Sama...well let’s go back to how the Elvhen thought of their lives, how that happened.

A spirit is formed in “The Well of Souls” or “The Beyond”; it’s the space between their world and the Void. Think of it like a buffer between the two. The Void and our world cannot touch without destroying each other with their opposing natures, but they can’t really exist separately, so they need an area where they are connected. Separate, but connected.

This Beyond is where souls go when they die, it’s where they are broken and reassembled into new souls. It is where spirits reside. There’s a Veil between it and our world, and now between it and the Fade.

My theory is prior to the Fade being created, the Beyond was where spirits came from and where they went. It would be like our Fade, but...more ethereal, less concrete. Perhaps it was nothing but concepts and ideas, I could not say.

I think the Beyond’s Veil is what would split souls in half, creating _ nas’falon _. Now that there are two Veils, there is no chance for the phenomenon to occur. I also think the twin Veils severely weaken our souls’ connection to the Beyond, thus mage children are rarer. 

It is mere conjecture, but given how closely the Elvhen were tied to the Beyond’s magic, and the prevalence of it in their world...I don’t think I’m too far off...But more on that another time.

Elvhen, if they slept, connected to this Beyond, or a piece of it. I think there might be many parts of the Beyond, some parts that may have been caught in the Veil and are now a part of the Fade. If the Veil targeted pure magic, the Beyond might have been caught, at least the part most closely tied to the physical world (dreams). 

Sama’s connection to the Beyond is like...perpetual astral projection? Her mind is constantly connected to that space, allowing her to see its echoes in the waking world and phase between the two realities unconsciously. Which is why I think part of the Beyond is now the Fade. 

_ Uthenera _ sent the soul back to the Beyond, where it learned and gathered knowledge from all the souls around it. I believe this melding of souls/minds allowed for the Elvhen to be able to do things like memory spells and the elusive school of animancy. Everything was just...malleable.

* * *

So the Beyond is where souls come from when we are born, and where we go when we die.It has its own sort of Veil, which makes it harder for souls to cross, which then means less mages. It’s now partly in the Fade, and partly beyond it. Am I understanding all that correctly?

* * *

Yes. Well done, flat ear, we’ll make a Dalish out of you yet.

* * *

I wouldn’t go that far. Your pantheon confuses the hell out of me, let alone all of their teachings.

So what about this Void? How does it exactly tie into everything?

* * *

To be fair, I think all religions’ teachings confuses anyone not raised within them. 

Ah, well, as I said, the Void is connected to our world by the Beyond. I’m unsure of exactly its purpose...The eventuality of decay? Of fading into nothingness perhaps? 

I found a memory of a memory of a concept once that fascinated me. 

Fade magic, the type of magic we are most familiar with, is tied to emotions. Even the Elvhen were bound by this fact. Just look at what happens when the Liar gets mad. Imagine a world where the slightest stray emotion might influence your magic and your surroundings. 

Are you picturing pure chaos? Because I am. Emotions are irrational, intense, and chaotic. Even today we mages have to be in full control of them to handle our magics. When a Tranquil is spirit-touched and they regain their connection to the Fade, their magics are wild and out of control. Something gets damaged.

I think it’s a tie to the Beyond, and, through it, the Void.

The Void is logic, reason devoid of all emotions. It has no need for morals or sentimentality; It is purpose and control. It is Order even when we cannot fathom it. 

The two together create Balance, Life and Death, Fade and Void. A spirit might reconnect the individual to the Fade, to their emotions, but unless it is a Void spirit, it cannot reconnect them to the Void. Thus logic and therefore control is gone.

* * *

The Demonlord is a so-called “voidborn” if I overheard correctly. What is that?

* * *

You’ll make for a fine spymaster.

Voidborns are what happens when a soul of a newborn is...corrupted by the Void. It primarily happened where the Veil was too thin, or non-existent in the case of Banal’rasan. I’m unsure of the actual logistics of the condition. Perhaps a Void spirit touched the soul as it left, perhaps it’s fate. Who knows?

Our Demonlord and his spawns however...their line, somehow, adapted to having “Death’s soul” as one chatty spirit put it. Possession does weird things over the course of an eon.

* * *

He was possessed? 

* * *

No, his ancestor was. I assume the spirit got caught inside their body, and it melded into them, changing them entirely. Now their line is incapable of having anything **but** voidborns; their souls are tied more directly to the Void, and less to the Fade/Beyond.

Darkspawn I think are similar. The Taint corrupts their souls/bodies, breaking ties with the Fade and reforming them with the Void. Again: theory. The Demonlord does possess many Archdemon qualities…

I suggest we change his codename to Archdemon, far more fitting, no?

* * *

I mean, I’m not saying yes, but...it’s on your head if the Archdemon finds these.

* * *

A risk I am willing to take, dear flat ear. 

* * *

If the Archdemon is basically a Void Spirit, or voidborn, or whatever...could he fully reverse Tranquility without the problems?

* * *

If my theory is correct, I believe so. He seems to be more intune with the Fade as well, so he might be a one-man-cure. And if I’m correct about the Taint...we may even get a cure for that.

It’s fascinating, is it not?

* * *

Leave it to a maleficar to find an all powerful, ancient Void god to be fascinating.

_ \---Correspondence between the so-called Keeper of the Inquisition and Charter, sometime around 9:41 Dragon, before the incident _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I see that basically a handful of people read these, I'm just going to release all the chapters. If you don't want to get spoiled, then just don't read them until you think it's safe enough. I'd tell you a specific chapter but I honestly can't? The phylactery talk is one of those things that I'm trying to work in, but I'm not going to shoehorn it in you know? So it'll happen when it happens, and will update its chapter accordingly. 
> 
> I will probably release them one at a time, one next month, and one in June.

**Author's Note:**

> This is for those who don't want to try and navigate my tumblr and for me to have one spot where I can easily find my references. Win Win.
> 
> Any Elvish used is either from Project Elvhen or from Dragon Age itself. The lore is a combination of in game things, various theories and my own strange mind. If you like, drop a comment. Got a question, comment. Don't like or just want to vent your frustrations? Don't. :D


End file.
